Enteric pathogens and antimicrobial susceptibility profile among pediatric patients with diarrhea in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background: Diarrheal disease remain a major public health problem in developing countries including Ethiopia. The current study was designed to isolate medically important bacterial enteric pathogens and assess the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern for prescribed drugs. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed between November 2016 and May 2017 to determine bacterial enteric pathogens that cause diarrhea and assess their antimicrobial susceptibility profile. Stool specimens from pediatric patients aged 0-14 years were collected from two health centers and one specialized hospital to identify bacterial enteric pathogens. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed on bacterial isolates using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Results: Out of 290 study patients with diarrhea examined, the majority of bacterial enteropahogens isolated in the study were Shigella species 22(7.6%) followed by enterohemorrgic E.coli O157:H7 13(4.5%) and Salmonella species 7(2.4%). Among the Salmonella species 42.9% showed resistance to trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole. Among the Shigella species, 77.3% were resistant to ampicillin and 68.2% to trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole whereas E.coli O157:H7 strains were resistant mostly to ampicillin (69.2%), and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (46.1%). The overall prevalence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) (to ≥3 classes of antibiotics) among the isolates was 26.2%. Conclusion: Salmonella species, enterohemorrhagic E.coli O157:H7and Shigella species were the most frequently isolated pathogens in children with diarrhea. A high proportion of the Salmonella and Shigella isolates identified in the study showed resistance to the most frequently prescribed drugs ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole. Ciprofloxacin was found to be the best drug of choice for the treatment of diarrhea caused by Salmonella and Shigella. When antibiotics are indicated to treat diarrhea in children, clinicians should rely on stool culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing before prescribing drugs

Aerobic bacterial isolates from post-surgical wound and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern: a hospital based cross-sectional study

Post-operative wound infections as well as emergence and spread of drug resistant strains have been found to pose a major problem in the field of surgery. This study investigated common aerobic bacterial isolates and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in patients with clinical diagnosis of post-surgical wound infections. Microbial analysis was carried on pus samples obtained from 194 patients with clinical diagnosis of postsurgical wound infections at Hawassa Teaching and Referral Hospital; from November 2010 to March 2011. The isolation rate of aerobic bacteria was 138 (71.1). S. aureus was the most frequent isolates (37.3); followed by E. coli (25.4); Klebsiella species (13.6); Proteus (10.2); P. aeruginosa (10.2) and coagulase negative Staphylococci (3.4). Single and multiple antimicrobial resistances were observed in 6.8 and 93.2 of the isolates; respectively. No bacterial isolates was found to be sensitive to all antibiotics tested. The high isolation rate of aerobic bacteria and their increased resistance to the commonly used antibiotics warrants the need to practise aseptic procedures and rational use of antimicrobial agents leading to minimize infection rate and emergence of drug resistance