Determination of Qnr allele frequencies in Fluoroquinolone resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from burn wounds.

Effective treatment of burn wound infections is precluded by high prevalence of nosocomial infections coupled with high resistance rates against commonly used antimicrobials. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important nosocomial pathogen in burn infections due to high morbidity and mortality associated with it. We analyzed fluoroquinolone resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa for the presence of Qnr gene, owing to high genetic mobility of this plasmid-borne gene. Bacteria were isolated from burn wound patients from Pak-Italian ModernBurn Center, Nishter Hospital Multan. Fluoroquinoloneresistant isolates were selected and PCR-based assay was designed to determine the frequencies of different alleles. QnrB was found in highest number of isolates (10.8%) followed by QnrD (6%). We could not find any QnrC positive sample. As far as we could search, this is the first report on detection of Qnr gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Pakistan.