Staphylococcus saprophyticus carriage among healthy and pregnant women from southern Iran

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESStaphylococcus saprophyticus as a genitourinary colonizer is an important agent of community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTI) in young females. We studied the microbiological and molecular characteristics of S. saprophyticus isolated from healthy women with sexual activity and pregnant women with UTI.MATERIALS AND METHODSOverall, ۲۸۰ samples, consisting of ۲۰۲ perineum swabs from healthy women and ۷۸ urine specimens from pregnant women with UTI were included. Suspected S. saprophyticus from specimens were identified and confirmed using standard phenotypic and genotypic methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility against ۱۰ drug was evaluated by using disk diffusion method. Six putative virulence genes were determined using PCR.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONA total of ۳۱ (۱۱.۱%) S. saprophyticus, including ۲۱ isolates from healthy women and ۱۰ from pregnant women was obtained. The most effective antibiotics were found clindamycin and nitrofurantoin with ۱۰۰% susceptibility. Of the ۳۱ isolates, ۱۰۰, ۱۰۰, ۱۰۰, ۹۶.۷, ۹۰.۳ and ۷۴.۲% were harbored hrcA, ureC, dsdA, uafA, sssf, and ssp genes, respectively. The sdrI gene was not detected in any of the isolates. A significant difference was shown between age and urinary catheterization with S. saprophyticus isolation.CONCLUSIONThe findings implicate the prevalence of relatively high of S. saprophyticus along with the presence of considerable virulence-associated genes and multiple drug resistance (۴۱.۹%) among them in our area. Monitoring of S. saprophyticus particularly in symptomatic pregnant women is necessary. To our knowledge, this is the first report on putative virulence genes of S. saprophyticus and the related risk factors for its carriage or infection status in Iran.

کلیدواژه ها:

Staphylococcus saprophyticus ، healthy and pregnant women ، PCR