Prevalence and Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 Associated with Gastroenteritis in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria

Aim: To determine the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 associated with gastroenteritis in Minna, Niger state.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology, Federal University of technology, Minna, between the months of August 2013 to April 2014.

Study Design: The study was a cross sectional study.

Materials and Methods: Four hundred and twenty eight stool specimens were collected using random sampling method. Stool specimens were obtained from outpatients who visited five different hospitals and clinics in Minna. These patients presented signs and symptoms suggestive of gastroenteritis. Isolates were examined for enteropathogens using standard bacteriological techniques. The physiological and biochemical characteristics of recovered isolates were compared with those of known taxa. Sorbitol fermenting Escherichia coli was further identified using the latex agglutination kit (Oxoid, England). The antibiotics susceptibility pattern of isolates was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and read according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendation.

Results: Out of the 428 stool specimens examined, 336 were positive for gastroenteritis. The prevalence of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in respect to age group reveals that patients between the age group of 0-9 years had the highest frequency of occurrence 19(39.58%) when compared to other age group in the study. Although there were more males 21(10.82%) than females 27(14.84%), Escherichia coli 0157:H7 was not significantly related to gender (p>0.05). The antibiotic profile reveals that Escherichia coli 0157:H7 isolates were susceptible to Ciprofloxacin (72.92%), Chloramphenicol (60.42%) and Tetracycline (43.75%). However, it was completely not susceptible to ampicillin (0.00%). Chi square test was used for statistical analysis.

Conclusion: It was observed from this study that there is a need to enlighten the public on the use/misuse of antibiotics, this is due to the fact that Escherichia coli 0157:H7 isolates were not susceptible to most of the drugs used in this study. This data also provide valuable information for health personnel’s in determining the appropriate antibiotic to be administered. There is also need to improve personal hygiene, environmental sanitation, provision of safe drinking water and health education in order to reduce infection with gastroenteritis.