Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is frequently associated with infections with high mortality rates. The intrinsically high resistance to many antibiotics and multidrug resistance in the hospital setting is considered to be among the reasons for high pathogenicity of P. aeruginosa. In this study, a total of 200 wound and burn swabs were collected from patients. The collected specimens were examined for P. aeruginosa through biochemical and antibacterial sensitivity tests performed in the Microbiology Laboratory in College of Medicine, University of Kirkuk, Kirkuk, Iraq. The polymerase chain reaction was then used to detect mexA, mexB, mexR, and oprD genes. In total, 31 isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected from 200 patients with wounds and burns. Most cases were isolated from 23 (74.19%) and 8 (25.80%) wound and burn swabs, respectively. Antibiotic sensitivity was tested on all isolates against 17 antimicrobial agents. The obtained results revealed a high resistance rate to gentamicin, trimethoprim, amikacin, and amoxicillin, and a low resistance rate was observed to ceftazidime, tobramycin, levofloxacin, cotrimoxazole, ciprofloxacin, and aztreonam. Regarding antibiotic resistance, mexB, mexR, and oprD genes were observed in three isolates, in which mexB and mexR were detected in two isolates, and only one isolate carried mexA gene.
Keywords: Molecular diagnosis; Multidrug resistance; Pseudomonas aeruginosa.