Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common nosocomial illnesses, affecting about 250 million people globally each year. The major etiologic agent, Escherichia coli, is responsible for up to 90% of cases of UTI. E. coli is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic rod that is part of the normal intestinal flora. It is exhibiting a very high degree of genetic and phenotypic diversity and classified into 200 serotypes or serogroups based on somatic (O), capsular (K) and flagellar (H) antigens. Only strains of a restricted number of serogroups are pathogenic and are classified into categories or pathotypes based on the production of virulence factors. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are strains that have been isolated from the urinary system. Uropathogenic E. coli is the main reason of about 80–90% of UTIs.

UTI affects approximately 150 million people annually and has serious socioeconomic repercussions. Within the framework of the presented research, we studied 90 E. coli strains isolated during urinary-genital system infections in March, April and May 2022 in Georgia. To determine the pathogroup, we tested each strain for the presence of uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) specific genes. According to this method, the strain is tested for the presence of three genes, even the confirmation of one gene indicates that E. coli is uropathogenic. Of the 90 strains, 81 were identified as UPEC, interestingly, 29 strains had all three genes present, while 22 strains contained only one of the three genes. The chuA gene is one of the important markers of UPEC strains. chuA is an outer membrane protein with the ability to utilize hemin and is thought to be a key factor in human colonization. As a result of research, we saw that 53 out of 81 E.coli strains have this gene. To study the antibiotic sensitivity of the mentioned strains, we used the antibiotics that are currently recommended for UPEC infections. The results show that the strains isolated in Georgia in March-May 2022 are not characterized by broad antibiotic resistance, which is most important to those antibiotics that are prescribed for urological infections, such as nitrofuranthion and fosfomycin, against which only 3-3 of the 90 strains isolated from genitourinary system infections The strain was found to be resistant and none of these strains were resistant to both antibiotics.