Prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the COVID-19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Gurugram, India

The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria poses a great healthcare problem worldwide. Azithromycin (AZM) is a very effective macrolide antibiotic to treat many bacterial infections, but increasing azithromycin resistance in clinical bacteria decreases the effectivenes...

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Main Authors: Parbati Debnath, Md Fahim Alam, Manisha Khandait, Fohad Mabood Husain, Nayla Munawar, Aftab Hossain Mondal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Microbiology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1585526/full
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author Parbati Debnath
Md Fahim Alam
Manisha Khandait
Fohad Mabood Husain
Nayla Munawar
Aftab Hossain Mondal
Aftab Hossain Mondal
author_facet Parbati Debnath
Md Fahim Alam
Manisha Khandait
Fohad Mabood Husain
Nayla Munawar
Aftab Hossain Mondal
Aftab Hossain Mondal
author_sort Parbati Debnath
collection DOAJ
description The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria poses a great healthcare problem worldwide. Azithromycin (AZM) is a very effective macrolide antibiotic to treat many bacterial infections, but increasing azithromycin resistance in clinical bacteria decreases the effectiveness of this vital antibiotic, which is a major concern. The primary aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of azithromycin resistance and the occurrence of mphA gene in bacteria isolated from various clinical samples in Gurugram, India. For this, 138 pure bacterial isolates were obtained from the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, SGT Medical College, Hospital & Research Institute, Gurugram, India, from February to June 2024. All the isolates were identified by VITEK 2 system, and E. coli (22.5%) was found to be the most common pathogen in urine samples. Screening for azithromycin resistance by agar dilution and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method found 30 azithromycin-resistant bacterial isolates. The present study found the prevalence of azithromycin resistance in pathogenic bacteria from clinical samples is 22%, indicating an increase in prevalence after the COVID-19 era, which is a major concern. Antibiotic profiling data revealed that 100% of the azithromycin-resistant isolates were multidrug-resistant, which is a serious issue. Furthermore, plasmid-mediated mphA gene was successfully amplified by the PCR method from 11 bacterial isolates, which may be responsible for azithromycin resistance. Our findings indicate the rapid emergence of azithromycin resistance in pathogenic bacteria, highlighting the urgency of stringent surveillance and control measures.
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spelling doaj-art-ebf4d658188340ad94d07b566e2acfd22025-08-20T02:20:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2025-04-011610.3389/fmicb.2025.15855261585526Prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the COVID-19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Gurugram, IndiaParbati Debnath0Md Fahim Alam1Manisha Khandait2Fohad Mabood Husain3Nayla Munawar4Aftab Hossain Mondal5Aftab Hossain Mondal6Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, Gurugram, IndiaDepartment of Life Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, Gurugram, IndiaFaculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, Gurugram, IndiaDepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Chemistry, College of Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Life Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, Gurugram, IndiaDepartment of Microbiology, Maulana Azad College, Kolkata, IndiaThe increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria poses a great healthcare problem worldwide. Azithromycin (AZM) is a very effective macrolide antibiotic to treat many bacterial infections, but increasing azithromycin resistance in clinical bacteria decreases the effectiveness of this vital antibiotic, which is a major concern. The primary aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of azithromycin resistance and the occurrence of mphA gene in bacteria isolated from various clinical samples in Gurugram, India. For this, 138 pure bacterial isolates were obtained from the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, SGT Medical College, Hospital & Research Institute, Gurugram, India, from February to June 2024. All the isolates were identified by VITEK 2 system, and E. coli (22.5%) was found to be the most common pathogen in urine samples. Screening for azithromycin resistance by agar dilution and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method found 30 azithromycin-resistant bacterial isolates. The present study found the prevalence of azithromycin resistance in pathogenic bacteria from clinical samples is 22%, indicating an increase in prevalence after the COVID-19 era, which is a major concern. Antibiotic profiling data revealed that 100% of the azithromycin-resistant isolates were multidrug-resistant, which is a serious issue. Furthermore, plasmid-mediated mphA gene was successfully amplified by the PCR method from 11 bacterial isolates, which may be responsible for azithromycin resistance. Our findings indicate the rapid emergence of azithromycin resistance in pathogenic bacteria, highlighting the urgency of stringent surveillance and control measures.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1585526/fullazithromycin resistancemultidrug resistanceCOVID-19clinical bacteriamphA gene
spellingShingle Parbati Debnath
Md Fahim Alam
Manisha Khandait
Fohad Mabood Husain
Nayla Munawar
Aftab Hossain Mondal
Aftab Hossain Mondal
Prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the COVID-19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Gurugram, India
Frontiers in Microbiology
azithromycin resistance
multidrug resistance
COVID-19
clinical bacteria
mphA gene
title Prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the COVID-19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Gurugram, India
title_full Prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the COVID-19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Gurugram, India
title_fullStr Prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the COVID-19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Gurugram, India
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the COVID-19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Gurugram, India
title_short Prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the COVID-19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Gurugram, India
title_sort prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the covid 19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in gurugram india
topic azithromycin resistance
multidrug resistance
COVID-19
clinical bacteria
mphA gene
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1585526/full
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