Molecular epidemiologic analysis of community-onset extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli using infrequent-restriction-site polymerase chain reaction (IRS-PCR) with comparison by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)

Background: We evaluated the ability of infrequent restriction site-polymerase chain reaction (IRS-PCR) to perform molecular epidemiologic analysis of Community-Onset Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli, and also assessed the use of PFGE as an alternative method. Materials and Methods: IRS-PCR assay was performed using combinations of adaptors for XbaI and HhaI restriction sites on clinical isolates of E. coli (n=51). We compared the discriminatory power, quality and efficiency of IRS-PCR to PFGE. Results: In E. coli, PFGE discriminated 39 (76.4%) and IRS-PCR discerned 41 (80.3%) of the total 51 strains. It took much less time to complete IRS-PCR (one day) than PFGE (at least 4 days). Conclusions: IRS-PCR is a more sensitive and rapid alternative to PFGE for molecular epidemiologic analysis of E. coli.