Antimicrobial resistance and presence of Class 1 integrons in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from burn and wound infections

Objectives: Pseudomonas aeruginosa continues to be the most common pathogen in the nosocomial settings. This organism shows the high level of resistance against various groups of antibiotics. Therefore, this study investigates the association between the Class 1 integron and multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa bacterium isolated from burn and wound infections. Materials and Methods: A total of 184 isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected from nonrepetitive burn and wound samples (n = 866). Kirby–Bauer disk-diffusion test, a standard technique, was used to perform antibiotic susceptibility testing. Class 1 integron genes in P. aeruginosa were identified using the polymerase chain reaction. Results: The antibiotic resistance rate ranged between 19–100% for 184 isolates of P. aeruginosa tested. Polymerase chain reaction amplification revealed that 46.73% (86/184) of P. aeruginosa strains carried Class 1 integron gene, that strains also showed resistance to majority of the antibiotics tested. Negatively, most of the Class 1 integron genes were isolated from wound infections (n = 45) than burn infections (n = 41). Conclusion: The current study revealed that P. aeruginosa isolates that carrying Class 1 integron possess higher level of resistance to amoxicillin, ceftazidime, aztreonam, meropenem, tobramycin, piperacillin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and netilmicin. Therefore, it is essential to conduct antibiotic surveillance and molecular epidemiological studies to practice effective empirical therapies across the hospital settings.