Abstract

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The public health threat posed by bacteria producing extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) is increasingly contributing to the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which is slowly ushering in a post antibiotic era – where no antibiotic is likely to work. AMR is a global health threat that warrant urgent steps to mitigate its growing ugly trend. This study investigated the susceptibility profile of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella species – with the goal of informing Nigerian physicians on the best antibiotic therapy when ESBL-positive bacteria is implicated in an infection or disease. Standard microbiology technique was employed in the bacteriological analysis of clinical samples of urine and feaces (n=246) for the isolation and characterization of Klebsiella species and Escherichia coli isolates. ESBL production was phenotypically confirmed using the double disk synergy test (DDST) technique while susceptibility studies was carried out using the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion technique. 80 (50%) isolates of E. coli and 30 (18.75%) isolates of Klebsiella species were recovered from in-patients while 28 (17.5%) isolates of E. coli and 22 (13.76%) isolates of Klebsiella species were recovered from the out-patients samples. The result revealed that ESBL was phenotypically confirmed in 26 (31.71%) isolates of E. coli, 15 (18.29%) isolates of Klebsiella species from in-patients; and 7 (8.54%) isolates of E. coli and 4 (4.88%) isolates of Klebsiella species from out-patients samples. All E. coli and Klebsiella species isolates showed varied (high) resistance to the tested antibiotics with exception to imipenem (100%) to which the bacterial isolates showed complete susceptibility. Surveillance of ESBL-producing bacteria is advocated to assuage the nefarious activities of these multidrug resistant organisms in the hospital setting.

Keywords: ESBL, E. coli, Klebsiella, Antimicrobial resistance, Multidrug resistant bacteria