AUTHOR=Xiao Ruiqi , Li Ying , Liu Xiaowei , Ding Yijun , Lai Jidong , Li Yangfang , Kang Wenqing , Zou Peicen , Wang Jie , Du Yue , Zhang Jinjing , Wang Yajuan 

TITLE=Antibiotic susceptibility of Escherichia coli isolated from neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care units across China from 2015 to 2020

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1183736

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2023.1183736

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p><italic>Escherichia coli</italic> is one of the most common pathogens causing neonatal infections. Recently, the incidence and drug resistance of <italic>E. coli</italic> have increased, posing a major threat to neonatal health. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the antibiotic resistance and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) characteristics of <italic>E. coli</italic> derived from infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across China.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>In this study, 370 strains of <italic>E. coli</italic> from neonates were collected. <italic>E. coli</italic> isolated from these specimens were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing (by broth microdilution method) and MLST.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The overall resistance rate was 82.68%, with the highest rate of methicillin/sulfamethoxazole (55.68%) followed by cefotaxime (46.22%). Multiple resistance rate was 36.74%, 132 strains (35.68%) had extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) phenotype and 5 strains (1.35%) had insensitivity to the tested carbapenem antibiotics. The resistance of <italic>E. coli</italic> isolated from different pathogenicity and different sites of infections varied, strains derived from sputum were significantly more resistant to β-lactams and tetracyclines. Currently, the prevalence spectrum in NICUs was dominated by ST1193, ST95, ST73, ST69 and ST131 across China. And the multidrug resistance of ST410 was the most severe. ST410 had the highest resistance rate to cefotaxime (86.67%), and its most common multidrug resistance pattern was β-lactams + aminoglycosides + quinolones + tetracyclines + sulfonamides.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>Substantial proportions of neonatal <italic>E. coli</italic> isolates were severely resistant to commonly administered antibiotics. MLST results can suggest the prevalent characteristics of antibiotic resistance in <italic>E. coli</italic> with different ST types.</p></sec>