Abstract

Background: The constant increase of factors associated with the presence of resistant strains, makes empirical antibiotic selection a challenge in patients hospitalized for community-acquired urinary tract infection. Aim: We characterized the bacteria and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in cultures obtained from adult patients that needed hospitalization for this disease in two tertiary hospitals in Santiago, Chile. Methods: We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study in adults hospitalized for community-acquired urinary tract infection between 2017 and 2022. All patients with positive urine cultures were included in the analysis. Results: A total of 830 patients were included. Escherichia coli was the most frequent infectious agent (68.1%), followed by Klebsiella spp. (17.7%) and Enterococcus faecalis (6.7%). Among Enterobacteriaceae strains, 35.2%, 19.7% and 27.2% were resistant to first, second and third-generation cephalosporin, respectively. 36.9% were resistant to ciprofloxacin and 1.8% to amikacin. Gram-positive bacteria were resistant to oxacillin and ampicillin in 25% and 18%, respectively. Conclusion: We detected a high prevalence of community-acquired urinary tract infections caused by bacteria resistant to commonly used antibiotics in adult that need to be hospitalized.