ISOLATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN OF ESCHERICHIA COLI PATHOTYPES AMONG CHILDREN WITH DIARRHOEA IN ZARIA, NIGERIA

Abstract
Diarrhoea is one of the foremost public health problems worldwide especially among Children under five years in developing countries. Only few studies have investigated the epidemiology and virulence of Escherichia coli pathotypes in South-Eastern and South-Western Nigeria leaving the Northern part of the country unstudied. The isolation and biochemical identification of the isolates were performed using standard microbiological procedures. Antimicrobial Susceptibility testing was performed by disc diffusion method using modified Kirby-Bauer sensitivity testing techniques. Multiplex PCR test was performed to characterize the E. coli isolates into their respective pathotypes. A total of 100 isolates of Escherichia coli were obtained from the diarrhoeic stool of 222 paediatric patients under the age of five (5) years. The result of antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the isolates showed that, 86% of the E. coli isolates were resistant to Amoxicillin, 85% to Cotrimoxazole, 81% to Erythromycin, 40% to Chloramphenicol, 24% to Augmentin (Amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid), 23% to Ciprofloxacin, 23% to Ceftriaxone, and 22% to Gentamicin. The multiple antibiotic resistance index of 0.1 was obtained in 11% of the E. coli isolates, 0.2 in 10%, 0.3 in 19%, 0.5 in 24%, 0.6 in 15%, 0.7 in 11%, 0.8 in 6%, and 1.0 in 2%. Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of the E. coli isolates in this study showed that 58% have MAR index of ≥ 0.5. Following β-lactamase production test, 55.8% of the Amoxicillin resistant isolates were found to be β-lactamase positive while 44.2% were found to be β-lactamase negative. From the results obtained, only one (1) percent of the isolates was found to harbor the virulence gene out of the 100 E. coli isolated from the diarrhoea stools of children employed in this study. This virulence gene was found to be dispersin/antiaggregation protein (aap), a characteristic of Enteroaggregative E. coli ( EAEC).
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA. IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTER DEGREE (M.Sc) IN PHARMACEUTICAL MICROBIOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICS AND PHARMACEUTICAL MICROBIOLOGY, FACULTY OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA OCTOBER, 2014
Keywords
ISOLATION,, CHARACTERIZATION,, ANTIBIOTIC,, SUSCEPTIBILITY,, PATTERN,, ESCHERICHIA,, COLI PATHOTYPES,, CHILDREN,, DIARRHOEA,, ZARIA, NIGERIA
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