Abstract

The possession of virulence factors that elicits pathogenicity in uropathogens is a concern in public health care. It is said that possession of many virulence gene accelerates the degree of pathogenicity and the extent at which infections occur. This study therefore, was carried out to detect and compare the prevalence of virulence genes in Escherichia coli isolated from 130 urine specimen of pregnant women and 130 urine specimen of HIV patients attending University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Based on previous study, A total of 25 Escherichia coli isolates from urine of pregnant women (13) and HIV patients (12) were selected for virulence genes detection using molecular method. Assays were carried out to detect four virulence encoding genes (hlyA, afaC, cnf-1 and fimH) in Escherichia coli. The study revealed the highest incidence of fimH (68.0%) virulence gene in Escherichia coli. There was no detection of haemolysin A (hylA) and cytotoxin neutralizing factor (cnf-1) virulence gene. The virulence gene detection was higher in HIV patients (69.2%) when compared with that of the pregnant women (66.7%). There was a significant difference in occurrence of fimH in Escherichia coli. There is need to create awareness on uropathogens and their virulence factors, how they are acquired and measures to prevent them, effective testing/treatment are also needed to check their occurrence.