Abstract
The control of infectious diseases is badly endangered by the rise in the number of microorganisms that are resistant to antimicrobial agents. This is because infections caused by resistant microorganisms often fail to respond to conventional treatment, resulting in prolonged illness and greater risk of death. Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria are also present in various water sources. This study therefore sought to document the microbiological quality and antibiograms of bacterial isolates (E. coli strains) from six different water sources in order to determine their safety for human consumption and to provide updated antibiotic data for pragmatic treatment of patients. Bacteria isolation and identification was done using API and conventional methods. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was conducted using the Kirby–Bauer method. Results obtained indicated that all the water sources tested were of poor quality. Bacteria isolated included E. coli, Enterobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Salmonella typhi, Streptococcus spp., Proteus vulgaris, Vibrio cholera, Shigella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterococcus faecalis. The prevalence of multidrug-resistant E. coli was 49.48%. E. coli isolates showed high resistance patterns to the tested antibiotics. They were most resistant to penicillin (32.99%), cefuroxime (28.87%), erythromycin (23.71%), and tetracycline (21.45%). In contrast, they were susceptible to nitrofurantoin (93.8%), cefotaxime and amikacin (91.75%), gentamicin (90.7%), nalidixic acid (89.65%), ciprofloxacin (74.2%), chloramphenicol (69.07%), pipemidic acid (65.97%), and cefuroxime (52.58%). Sixty-three percent (63%) of the multidrug-resistant E. coli strains recorded a multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index value >0.2. The susceptible antibiotics, especially the nitrofurantoin, are hence recommended in the practical treatment of waterborne bacterial diseases.
Highlights
Antibiotics are arguably the most successful form of chemotherapy developed in the 20th century and save innumerable human lives every day [1]
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria limits the clinical use of antibiotics and, as resistant bacteria become more prevalent, there is increasing concern that existing antibiotics will become ineffective against these pathogens and more expensive [2]
The presence of E. coli in the various water sources may spell health hazards such as diarrhoeal diseases which account for a substantial degree of morbidity and mortality in adults and children [20,21,22,23,24]
Summary
Antibiotics are arguably the most successful form of chemotherapy developed in the 20th century and save innumerable human lives every day [1]. Antibiotic-resistant genes conferring resistance to a wide variety of antibiotics have been identified in a large range of water environments including drinking water in both developed and developing countries [3, 4]. The main risk for public health is that resistance genes are transferred from environmental bacteria to human pathogens. The potential of drinking water to transport microbial pathogens to a greater number of people, causing subsequent illness, is well documented in countries at all levels of economic development [5, 6]. The availability of safe drinking water is an indispensible feature for preventing epidemic disease and improving the quality of life [7, 8]
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