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A five year study on the susceptibility of isolates from various parts of the body


RM Mordi
MI Momoh

Abstract

In Nigeria, like most developing countries, there is little or complete lack of antibiotic prescribing policy. This results in a situation where antimicrobial agents are bought and consumed indiscriminately, thus leading to drug abuse. The ugly consequence is the development of resistance by microorganisms to these antimicrobial agents. This study seeks to determine the antibiogram of common isolates from swabs and aspirates in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, in the
last half a decade. The design was prospective and cross sectional. Patients attending the University of Benin Teaching Hospital clinics were used for the study. The various antimicrobial agents used in this
study were amoxicillin clavulanate 30 ìg, cefuroxime 30 ìg, ceftazidime 5 ìg, ofloxacin 5 ìg gentamicin 10 ìg, amoxicillin 25 ìg, erythromycin 5 ìg, cloxacillin 5 ìg, cotrimoxazole 5 ìg, tetracycline 10 ìg, and
chloramphenicol 30 ìg. Cultures were prepared using standard methods and incubated aerobically and anaerobically at 37°C for 48 h. Identification was by morphological characteristics and biochemical
tests. The various isolates for the five-year period were Staphylococcus aureus 1000, Klebsiella pneumoniae 340, Proteus mirabilis 38 Escherichia coli 295, Pseudomonas aeroginosa 240, Alcaligenes
faecalis 200, Enterobacter aerogenes 175, Acinetobacter baumannii 150, Proteus vulgaris 110, Providencia stuartii 101, Streptococcus pneumoniae 16, Citrobacter freundii 51. The isolates varied
widely in their susceptibility pattern. Almost all the isolates were about 100% resistant to cloxacillin, tetracycline and cotrimoxazole. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed no difference in the
susceptibility pattern of the isolates in the five years. However there was significant difference in the efficacy of the various antimicrobial agents and the number of isolates. This study achieved its aim of
determining the microbial flora and their sensitivity pattern at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital in the last half a decade. The increasing rate of drug resistance demonstrated by the isolates
particularly to cheap and frequently used antimicrobial agents raises serious concern.

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