20.500.12556/RUL-169393 Increasing fluroquinolone susceptibility and genetic diversity of ESBL-producing E. coli from the lower respiratory tract during the COVID-19 pandemic Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, among which Escherichia coli (E. coli) pneumonia is considered a rare phenomenon. Treatment options for LRTIs have become limited, especially for extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing E. coli (ESBL-EC), which are usually resistant to other groups of antimicrobials as well. The aim of our study was to compare the phenotypic resistance profiles and genotypes of ESBL-EC isolates associated with LRTIs before (pre-COVID-19) and during (COVID-19) the COVID-19 pandemic. All isolates were screened for antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence-associated genes (VAGs) and assigned to phylogenetic groups, sequence types and clonal groups by PCR. During the pandemic, a significantly lower proportion of ciprofloxacin-, levofloxacin- and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-resistant ESBL-EC isolates was retrieved from lower respiratory tract (LRT) samples. PCR-based genotypization revealed greater clonal diversity and a significantly lower proportion of isolates with bla$_{TEM}$, aac(6′)-Ib-cr and qacE∆1 genes. In addition, a higher proportion of isolates with the integrase gene int1 and virulence genes sat and tsh was confirmed. The lower prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistance and greater genetic diversity of ESBL-EC isolated during the COVID-19 period may have been due to the introduction of new bacterial strains into the hospital environment, along with changes in clinical establishment guidelines and practices. antimicrobial resistance Escherichia coli extended-spectrum β-lactamases lower respiratory tract COVID-19 odpornost proti protimikrobnim učinkovinam Escherichia coli β-laktamaze z razširjenim spektrom delovanja spodnji dihalni trakt COVID-19 true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2025-05-27 12:04:53 2025-05-27 12:04:55 2025-05-28 04:11:59 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2024 0 0 14 str. iss. 9, art. 797 Vol. 13 2024 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 615 2079-6382 10.3390/antibiotics13090797 205359875 antibiotics-13-00797.pdf antibiotics-13-00797.pdf 1 BF58F5BF0A7AA403ABFA633E7129DED6 c1c92e6765cd5f2f5c6a6d4b045695e898f810560fe1d052d7acba79f1a4acf4 3c8a4932-3ae1-11f0-b232-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=210712 https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/13/9/797 0 37a02e48-3ae1-11f0-b232-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=210711 Biotehniška fakulteta Medicinska fakulteta 0 0 0