Antibiotics Susceptibility Pattern and Plasmid Profile of Escherichia coli O157 Isolated from Fecal Samples of Apparently Healthy Children

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is an enterohemorrhagic serotype of the bacterium Escherichia coli. It is a cause of severe colitis, bloody diarrhoea and Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which is associated with life threatening systemic manifestations. This study was designed to investigate the occurrence, antibiotics susceptibility pattern and plasmid profile of E. coli O157 from fecal samples of children. A total of 311 fecal samples were collected from apparently healthy children (111 males and 200 females) within the age range of 0-5 years at Mother and Child Hospital, Anchorite Daycare, Women’s’ Forum Daycare and FUTA Daycare in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. The fecal samples were screened using standard bacteriological and serological techniques. Twenty one (6.75%) of the samples were positive for E. coli O157. Antibiotics susceptibility testing was carried out using disk diffusion technique, many of the isolates displayed multi-drug resistance to the antibiotics employed in this study. The resistance pattern observed is as follows: Ceftriazone 19 (90.5%), Amoxycilin 18 (85.7%), Tetracycline 13 (61.9%), Gentamycin 11(52.4%), Cotrimoxazole 9 (42.9%), Augmentin 8 (25.8%), Ofloxacin 2 (9.5%), Ciprofloxacin 2 (9.5%) and Nitrofurantoin 2 (9.5%). Plasmid profiling of the strains revealed the presence of multiple plasmids ranging in sizes from 4.0 to 17.5 kb. Conclusively, since the mode of transmission of this pathogen is via the fecal-oral route and an exceptionally low dose of the organism is able to cause infection. It is therefore recommended that routine screening is carried out to determine the carrier rate of the organism, more public awareness should be carried out to educate the community on need for adherence to personal hygiene, environmental hygiene and good food handling practices to prevent an outbreak.