Objective

. To characterize the prevalence of urinary tract infection and the in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility profile of Enterobacteriaceae in patients in the province of Santa Elena - Ecuador.

Method.

This was a descriptive research of documentary design. The population was 827 urine culture records, collected from the database of the microbiology laboratory of the Centro de Especialidades IESS La Libertad, in the period from August 2019 to March 2020. The data were processed using descriptive statistics, frequency analysis and chi-square.

Results

. From this study indicate that the prevalence of UTI was 22.1%; the main etiological agents were: E. coli (76.0%), Klebsiella oxytoca (6.5%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (5.8%) and Proteus mirabilis (3.9%). UTI and E. coli infection were statistically higher in women and older adults. The highest frequency of E. coli resistance was for nalidixic acid (81.2%), ampicillin (79.9%), ciprofloxacin (72.6%) and trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (61.5%); in Klebsiella oxytoca it was ampicillin (80.0%), trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (70.0%), nalidixic acid (60.0%) and ciprofloxacin (40.0%). While in Klebsiella pneumoniae, 100% resistance was found for ampicillin and cephalothin, amoxicillin and clavulanic acid (66.7%), ciprofloxacin (55.6%), nalidixic acid (44.4%), meropenem and imipenem (11.1%).

Conclusions

. E. coli continues to be the most frequent microorganism in UTI. Empirical treatment of UTI should include amikacin, nitrofurantoin and piperacillin tazobactam.