Investigation of antimicrobial susceptibility, class I, II, and III integrons among clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from hospitalized burn patients in Southern Iran

Introduction Burn infection due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa poses a considerable challenge in terms of graft loss, systemic sepsis, prolonged hospital stays, and even enhanced mortality. The aim of this study was to consider the susceptibility pattern to antibiotics and occurrence of class I, II, and III integrons in P. aeruginosa isolated from hospitalized burn patients. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was performed on 70 P. aeruginosa isolates obtained from blood, wounds, biopsy, and sputum samples from burn patients between January 2020 and March 2021 from different wards of a teaching hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. Results Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern was performed using the disk diffusion method. Also, PCR was carried out for the detection of intI1, intI2 and intI3 genes. Among the 70 P. aeruginosa isolates, 34 (48.6%) isolates were obtained from females and 36 (51.4%) isolates from males. PCR amplification revealed that 51.4% isolates (36/70) had intI1, 30% isolates (21/70) had intI2, and 12.9% isolates (9/70) had both genes. However, the intI3 gene was not detected in any isolates. Furthermore, there is no important association between resistance to antibiotics and the presence of intI genes. Conclusion According to our results, there were no statistically significant differences among resistance to antibiotics and the presence of intI and intI1 genes. However, the surveillance of patterns of antibiotic resistance and investigation into the role of integrons in controlling the scattering of antibiotic-resistant genes are recommended.