en ميکروب شناسي Microbiology تحقيقي Original Paper <div><strong>ABSTRACT</strong><br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Background and objectives</strong>: Nosocomial infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria is a life threatening health challenge. This study aimed to determine the frequency of antibiotic resistance genes in clinical isolates from hospitals of Zahedan, southeast of Iran.<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Methods</strong>: Overall, 818 isolates were collected from different hospital wards. The isolates were identified using conventional microbiological and biochemical tests. Antibiotic susceptibility pattern was assessed by agar disc diffusion method and determination of minimum inhibitory concentration of a number of antibiotics. Multiplex PCR was performed using specific primers for the detection of resistance genes.<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Results:</strong> The most common species were <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> (25%), <em>Klebsiella pneumoniae </em>(22%) and <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em> (14%). The rate of methicillin resistance among <em>S. aureus</em>, <em>S. epidermidis</em> and <em>S. saprophyticus</em> was 60%, 43% and 24%, respectively. In addition, 28.5% of enterococci isolates were vancomycin resistant. Among gram-negative bacteria, 45% of <em>A. baumannii</em> and 24% of <em>P. aeruginosa</em> were identified as ESBL. A high level of resistance to ampicillin (96%), cefotaxime (89%), gentamicin (89%) and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprime (60%) was observed in <em>K. pneumoniae</em>.<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Conclusion:</strong> Our results highlight the urgent need for an eradication program and a surveillance plan for preventing increased emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the study area.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Keywords: </strong><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68001424">Bacterial Infections</a>, Drug resistance, Zahedan.</div> Bacterial Infections, Drug resistance, Zahedan. 20 28 http://mlj.goums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-603-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Farzaneh Mohammadzadeh Rostami frz.rostami@yahoo.com 100319475328460017169 100319475328460017169 No Department of Bacteriology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan Iran saman shalibeik 100319475328460017170 100319475328460017170 No Department of Microbiology, Falavarjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran., Morteza Rabi Nezhad Mousavi 100319475328460017171 100319475328460017171 Yes Department of Microbiology, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran