Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Hospital and Community-acquired Urinary Tract Infections by Escherichia coli: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

In recent years, antimicrobial resistance has been increasingly reported. One main concern is the resistance of gram-negative bacteria like E. coli to ciprofloxacin (fluoroquinolones). Gram-negative bacteria are the main cause of community and hospital-acquired urinary tract infections (UTI). We aimed to review and analyze the data on ciprofloxacin resistance in hospital and community-acquired UTI. A literature search of three electronic databases (PubMed, Medline, and Cochrane) was performed. We considered the papers that were published from January 2004 to May 2019. The search yielded a total of 16097 studies besides 31 studies from a manual search. Filtering yielded 1297 relevant full-text papers. Eighty-three papers, equivalent of 99 cohorts, were finally included in this systematic review and in the analysis. The analysis results suggest that pooled ciprofloxacin resistance for community and hospital-acquired E. coli UTI is 0.27 (95% CI 0.246-0.303) and 0.30 (95% CI 0.22-0.38), respectively. Pooled resistance rates according to regions are 0.43 (95% CI 0.31-0.54) for Asia ensued by Africa 0.31 (95% CI 0.22-0.35), the Middle East 0.21(95% CI 0.13-0.30), Europe 0.18 (95% CI 0.13-0.22), and Australia 0.06 (95% CI 0.04-0.08). The pooled estimates revealed that ciprofloxacin resistance was higher in developing countries compared to that in developed countries, 0.35 (95% CI 0.30-0.40) and 0.13 (95% CI 0.10-0.16), respectively. Finally, plotting resistance over time deemed statistically significant (n= 79, r= 0.29, p= 0.038). Our findings suggest that ciprofloxacin resistance among UTI patients is a highly prevalent and serious issue. The suggested risks are low-income, acquiring hospital infection, and falling in highly-vulnerable regions like Asia and Africa. We also shed light on some approaches to correct the perception of patients and general practitioners (GPs) for antibiotic usage. We also suggest ideas to impede the progress of the post-antibiotic era in countries known for high antibiotic resistance.