Pages: (14-30 )
Abstract
Bacteriological examination of 510 clinical samples (mid-stream urine (n=194), stool (n=146) and wound swab (n=170) from patients at referral hospitals between 2016 and 2018 was carried out using standard bacteriological techniques. The antibiotic susceptibility profile, slime and metallo-betalactamase (MβL) production among the isolated bacteria were determined by disc diffusion, Congo Red Agar (CRA) / Tube Method and Imipenem / ethylenediamine-tetra-acetic acid disc methods, respectively. A total of 564 bacteria constituting eight genera were isolated from mid-stream urine (n=194), stool (n=146) and wound (n=170) specimens. Escherichia coli (37.3%) was the predominant species while Acinetobacter spp (7.1%) and Citrobacter freundii (7.1 %) were the least occurring species. The results showed that ≥ 46.8 %, 37.9 % and ≥ 34.0 % isolates were resistant to Imipenem; Ampicillin and Ceftriaxone., respectively. Out of 564 isolates obtained, 59.4% were multidrug resistant strains with multiple antibiotic resistant indices ranging from 0.38 to 0.63. Of 270 Imipenem resistant isolates, 64.4% and 65.9% isolates were positive for MβL production by the double disc synergy test and combined double disc test, respectively. The percentages of slime producing isolates using CRA in decreasing order were K. pneumoniae (82.9%) ˃ Acinetobacter spp (77.8%) ˃ E. coli (64.2%) ˃ P. aeruginosa (62.5%) ˃ P. mirabilis (51.7 %) ˃ Salmonella spp (45.0%) ˃Enterobacter spp (36.8%) ˃ C. freundii (33.3%). Quantitative assessment of the 352 isolates revealed 20% as weak, 34% as moderate and 47% as strong slime producers. This study therefore showed the necessity to continuously assess the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of bacterial slime producers and also to consider the use of non-carbapenem antibiotics for treatment of infectious diseases.
Keywords: Slime, Metallobetalactamase, Resistant, Isolates, Antibiotics, Imipenem.,