en Epidemiologic Studies Epidemiologic Studies مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong><span style="background-color:#008080;">Background & Objective:</span></strong></span><em> Escherichia coli</em> (<em>E. coli</em>) is considered to be the most common cause of urinary tract infections (UTIs) worldwide. Due to the recent rise in bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the appearance of multidrug-resistant <em>E. coli</em>, treatment options have been significantly limited, thus increasing the cost of treatment as well as morbidity and mortality rates, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to identify the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of <em>E. coli</em> for use in early empirical treatments and cultures of negative UTIs caused by previous antibiotic usage. <span dir="RTL"></span><br> <span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong><span style="background-color:#008080;">Materials & Methods:</span></strong></span> In the present study, 704 urine samples with a positive culture of <em>E. coli </em>were evaluated in terms of susceptibility to gentamycin, nitrofurantoin, ceftazidime, cefixime, meropenem, cefepime, azithromycin, ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Data were collected based on age, sex, and hospitalization or ambulatory patient status. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0.<br> <span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong><span style="background-color:#008080;">Results:</span></strong></span> <em>E. coli </em>showed the lowest resistance to nitrofurantoin (4.5%) and the highest resistance to cefixime (34.9). There was a statistically significant relationship between antibiotic resistance and age, gender, and hospitalization status<span dir="RTL"></span><br> <span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong><span style="background-color:#008080;">Conclusion:</span></strong></span> Because of the high resistance rate of <em>E. coli</em> to cefixime, precautions should be taken before using cefixime to treat UTIs.</span></span></p> Antibiotic sensitivity, Escherichia coli, Resistance, Urinary tract infections 124 131 http://journal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-155-6&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mojtaba Kamaliaghdam Kamali.aghdam@yahoo.com 5200319475328460052877 5200319475328460052877 No Dept. of Pediatrics, Ayatollah Moussavi Hospital, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Mansour Sadeghzadeh sadeghzadeh@zums.ac.ir 5200319475328460052878 5200319475328460052878 Yes Dept. of Pediatrics, Ayatollah Moussavi Hospital, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Ahmad Jalilvand ajalilvand@yahoo.com 5200319475328460052879 5200319475328460052879 No Dept. of Pathology, Ayatollah Moussavi Hospital, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Kambiz Eftekhari dr_k_eftekhary@yahoo.com 5200319475328460052880 5200319475328460052880 No Dept. of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Bahrami Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Zahra Rezaei Zhrezaei848@gmail.com 5200319475328460052881 5200319475328460052881 No Dept. of Pediatrics, Ayatollah Moussavi Hospital, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran