Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern and ESBL Prevalence of Bacteria Isolated from Street Vended Snacks

Aims: The objective of the study was to ascertain the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and ESBL prevalence of bacteria isolated from snacks.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Microbiology (Laboratory Unit) Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike.

Methodology: The snacks were mashed aseptically, serially diluted and inoculated onto nutrient agar and MacConkey agar. Isolates were identified using standard microbiological procedures. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates and ESBL detection was done using disk diffusion method. ESBL production was confirmed using Double Disc Synergy Test (DDST) method following CLSI recommendations.

Results: Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhi, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the bacteria isolated with Escherichia coli as the most prevalent isolate with 42% occurrence in the samples screened. There was significant difference in the sensitivity of the bacteria isolates to the different antibiotics used at P=0.05. Salmonella Typhi isolates exhibited highest resistance to an antibiotic with 86% resistance to ciprofloxacin while Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates exhibited the lowest resistance to an antibiotic with 10% resistance to cefotaxime. Among the Gram-negative bacteria, 36% of suspected ESBL producing E. coli isolates were confirmed as ESBL producers indicating the highest occurrence.

Conclusion: The study confirmed the presence of bacteria in street vended snacks which exhibited high resistance to antibiotics that could be attributed to the presence of ESBL producers among the isolates.