In Vitro Activity of Cephalexin against Community-Acquired Urinary Escherichia coli, Klebsiella and Proteus species Isolates

Problem statement: Resistance among urinary tract pathogens to conventional antibiotics has been considered a health problem worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro activity of cephalexin on urinary enterobacterial isolates. Approach: Patients with community-acquired urinary tract infections were microbiologically investigated. Urine specimens were collected from each patient. The specimens were cultured on bacteriological media. The isolated urinary pathogens were subjected to antibiotic sensitivity test using modified Kirby-Bauer Disc diffusion method. The method was judged by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratories Standards (NCCLS). Results: A total of 140 enterobacterial urinary isolates were recovered. Of these 93 (66.4%) were identified as E. coli, 20 (14.3%) as Klebsiella spp. and 12 (8.6%) as Proteus spp. The results showed that urinary enterobacterial pathogens had a high rate of resistance to cephalexin amounting to 75 (53.6%), whereas susceptible and intermediate rates were 34 (24.3%) and 31 (22.1%) respectively. Conclusion: It was concluded that E. coli are the predominant organisms isolated from subjects sampled. High resistance to cephalexin activity was noticed with Klebsiella spp isolates.