Increasing resistance to quinolones: A four-year prospective study of urinary tract infection pathogens

A four-year prospective study was carried out to determine the incidence and rate of development of resistance by common urinary tract infection (UTI) pathogens to quinolone antimicrobial agents. Results show that there is high intrinsic resistance to the quinolones among strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (43.4%), Escherichia coli (26.3%), and Proteus spp. (17.1%). Over four years, rising rates of resistance were observed in P. aeruginosa (14.6% increase), Staphylococcus aureus (9.8%), and E. coli (9.7%). The highest potency was exhibited by ciprofloxacin (91.2%), levofloxacin (89.2%), and moxifloxacin (85.1%), while there were high rates of resistance to nalidixic acid (51.7%) and pefloxacin (29.0%). Coliforms, particularly E. coli (>45%), remain the most prevalent causative agents of UTI while females within the age range of 20-50 years were most vulnerable to UTI.