Introduction:

Healthcare-associated infections are a public health problem due to the increased morbimortality of patients, especially those with risk factors such as immunosuppression due to oncological diseases. It is essential to determine the genetic diversity of the main microorganisms causing healthcare infections by combining traditional epidemiological surveillance and molecular epidemiology for better outbreak follow-up and early detection.

Objective:

To determine the phylogenetic group and antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli isolated from hospitalized oncologic patients.

Materials and methods:

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 67 strains of ESBL- producing Escherichia coli to determine their phylogenetic group and described their antibiotic resistance profile, beta-lactam resistance genes, as well as the type of sample and the hospitalization areas from which they were recovered.

Results:

The most frequent phylogenetic group was B2 (36%); 57% of B2 strains were isolated from urine and 33% came from the urology department. Resistance to ciprofloxacin and gentamicin was 92% and 53%, respectively, and 79% of the strains had the bla CTX-M gene. A significant association (p<0.05) was found between the phylogenetic groups, ciprofloxacin resistance, and the age of the patients.

Conclusion:

The predominant E. coli phylogroup was B2. We evidenced high resistance to ciprofloxacin and gentamicin, a high proportion of ESBL strains with the bla CTX-M gene, and a significant association between the phylogenetic group and the resistance to ciprofloxacin.

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