Prevalence of Extended Spectrum Beta- Lactamase Genes among Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae Clinical Isolates

EXTENDED spectrum beta lactamases (ESBLs) of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae became a major problem in the whole world. This work aimed to study the prevalence of ESBLs genes (blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M) in E. coli and K. pneumoniae clinical isolates recovered from Al Kasr Al-Ainy Hospital, Cairo, Egypt, during the period between 2016 and 2018. One hundred sixty eight clinical isolates were screened for ESBLs production by double disc synergy test (DDST) and combination disc test (CDT). ESBLs genes were detected by PCR using specific primers. Out of 168 isolates, 113 (67.26%) were phenotypically positive ESBLs. Genotypically, only 108 (95.58%) were confirmed as ESBLs producer (61 E. coli and 47 K. pneumoniae isolates). The percentage of blaCTX-M, blaSHV and blaTEM were 91.7%, 82.4% and 78.7%, respectively. The co-existence of blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M genes were found in 47.54 and 72.34% for E. coli and K. pneumoniae, respectively.