Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern Of Diarrheagenic Escherichia Coli Isolated From Acute Diarrhea Patients

Acute diarrhea is a public health problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in developing countries. The etiology is varied, and among pathotypes Escherichia coli are the most important.Our objectives were to determine drug susceptibility pattern to different conventional and commonly available antibiotics of diarrheagenic E. coli (DEC) in fecal samples from children under five years old. DEC are detected by multiplex PCR. Among 68 DEC, 16 samples contain more than one pathogenic genes of DEC. Most of the strains are resistant to ampicillin, erythromycin, nalidixic acid and cephalexin. Azithromicin, Cotrimoxazole and Ciprofloxacin are relatively more sensitive and the sensitivity pattern of mecillinam, ceftriaxone and gentamicin is quite satisfactory. Sample containing more than one pathogenic genes are resistant to multiple antibiotics. Differentiation between the diarrheagenicE. coli pathotypes is of great importance since they are involved in acute diarrheal diseases and may require specific antimicrobial chemotherapy. The high antimicrobial resistance observed in our study raises a broad discussion on the indiscriminate or improper use of antimicrobials, besides the risks of self-medication. KEYWORDSantimicrobial resistance, diarrheagenic E. coli, multiplex PCR. Correspondence: Dr. Sushmita Roy, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Enam Medical College, Savar, Dhaka.