Study of virulence factor antibiotic resistance and biofilm of salmonella spp. isolated from infection patients Iraq Baghdad Education Hospital

Salmonella, a genus of the Enterobacteriaceae family, is a significant source of foodborne infections that have led to thousands of fatalities globally. The major cause of S enterica ser. Typhi infection is contaminated food or drink after consumption. S. enterica serovar may spread from the gut to other organs such as the spleen, gallbladder, liver, and pancreas, making it a systemic infection. ‎The study aimed to identify and characterize Salmonella spp. in Iraqi patients, assess virulence using gene markers, and document antimicrobial resistance profiles using disk diffusion and antibiotic resistance genes. One hundred blood samples from Medical City/Baghdad Teaching Hospital were promptly sent to the central laboratory for initial diagnosis using Aerobic BacT/ALERT® Culture Media. We employed VITEK-2 System to identify, test antibiotic susceptibility, and analyze biofilm growth for each Salmonella typhi isolate. Genomic DNA from all samples was expressed using conventional PCR to evaluate genes. By relying on the blood culture positivity in the current study; the prevalence ‎rate of Salmonella typhi was 30 (30%) out of 100 samples ; of them 17 (56.7%) were ‎female while the 13 (43.3%) male. Furthermore, there were 30 (100%) of Salmonella ‎typhi isolates were biofilm producers; considerably moderate biofilm producers S. typhi ‎was detected (20/30) 66.7% while weakly biofilm producer was (10/30) 33.3% a part ‎from that. Salmonella typhi demonstrated high sensitivity level (93%) to Ciprofloxacin ‎followed by (90%) of isolated were sensitive to each of Amikacin and Gentamicin ‎while for Piperacillin and Cefoxitin were (70%) and (76.3%) respectively. The ‎sensitivity to Imipenem was (63.3%), Trimethoprim (76.7%).‎ The sensitivity to Imipenem was 63.3% and Trimethoprim was 76.7%.The study found no significant correlation between virulence genes (PrgH and SiiD) and biofilm formation, nor between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance in Salmonella typhi.The sequencing of PrgH and SiiD genes reveals their varied nature. 2023, 88 pages Keywords: Salmonella, Virulence factor, Antibiotic resistance, PCR