Antibiotic Resistance Profile of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated from Nworie River, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

As a result of infectious organisms' development of antibiotic resistance, using antibiotics to treat infectious diseases has become more challenging. This study was undertaken to study the antibiogram of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia isolated from Nworie river in Imo state. Water samples were collected and the two test organisms were selectively isolated for antimicrobial analysis. Routine antibiograms were determined using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton Agar. Nine (9) antibiotics were used for the analysis; ceftazidime (30 ug), imipenem (10 ug), meropenem (10 ug), cefotaxime (30 ug), tetracycline (30 ug), ciprofloxacin (5 ug), gentamicin (10 ug), colistin (10 ug) and polymyxin B (30 ug) (Oxoid, Basingstoke). 67 isolates of Escherichia coli and 75 isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae were obtained from the water samples. Escherichia coli had a very high resistance to polymyxin B (100%), colistin (100%), cefotaxime (100%), ceftazidime (100%), ciprofloxacin (73.13%), tetracycline (82.09) and imipenem (73.13%), it exhibited a moderate resistance to meropenem (67.16%) and a low resistance to gentamicin (38.81%). Klebsiella pneumoniae had a very high resistance to polymyxin B (100%), colistin (100%), cefotaxime (98.67%), ceftazidime (98.67%), ciprofloxacin (86.67%), tetracycline (84), meropenem (78.67%) and imipenem (64%), it exhibited a moderate resistance to gentamicin (41.33%). Very high rates of resistance were found amongst isolates in this study and this is a cause for worry especially as the river from which these isolates were obtained is used for drinking swimming, washing etc. It is recommended therefore that more research is carried out to find out novel antibiotics that can be used in the treatment of diseases caused by these Enteriobacteriaceae; including combined chemotherapy.