Application of bacteriophages isolated from sewage to control urinary O157:H7 Escherichia coli and several bacterial uropathogens

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are global bacterial infections. Since the spread of antibiotic resistance, it is necessary to find alternative antimicrobial agents. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of waste water bacteriophages on the growth of some multi-drug resistance Escherichia coli and other bacterial uropathogens. Urine samples were collected from 30 UTI patients at Minia University Hospital, Minia, Egypt. Twenty Escherichia coli strains were isolated from UTI patients. The Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was used to determine the isolates antibiotic susceptibility. The isolates showed resistance to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin by 70%. Five E. coli bacteriophages were isolated from sewage water samples, tested for their host range and then examined by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The TEM examination revealed T4 like bacteriophages. The bacteriophages demonstrated lytic activities against the tested multidrug resistant clinical uropathogenic O157:H7 and non-O157 E. coli isolates, E. coli O157:H7 ATCC 43894, E. coli NRRL B-3008 and, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 strain, but showed no activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC10031 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538. This study revealed that bacteriophages could act as effective alternatives of antibiotics especially against multidrug resistant bacteria; however, further in-vivo and shelf stability studies are needed.