Publication:

Antimicrobial sensitivity pattern among clinical isolates of Escherichia coli in tertiary care centre of Northern India

Background Rampant rise in resistance to various antimicrobials among clinical isolates of Escherichia coli is an issue of serious concern, especially in developing countries. It not only causes failure in treatment but also pose a health burden over the society at large.

Methods Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on Muller Hinton agar as per Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute recommendations over 100 isolates of E. coli. Isolate resistant to at least three classes of antimicrobial agents was considered as multidrug resistant. Isolate resistant to the three classes of antimicrobials along with carbapenem was considered extensively drug resistant.

Results On performing the antimicrobial sensitivity pattern it was observed that E. coli isolates were maximally sensitive to ertapenem (56%), followed by imipenem (44%), meropenem (41%), piperacillin-tazobactam (23%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (21%), aztreonam (18%) among β-lactams group of antibiotics. 41% E. coli isolates were multidrug resistant and 11% were extensively drug resistant isolates.

Conclusions Stringent measures should be undertaken to curb the spread of antibiotic resistance. Policies should be framed and implemented to stop over the counter sale of antibiotics.