drug resistance

Antimicrobial resistance is an increasingly serious problem recognized as one of the greatest global threats to human health. Despite the successful effects to control infection disease, the continuous decline of therapeutic effectiveness of antimicrobials due to among others increasing antimicrobial resistance has become a worldwide problem. Although globally antimicrobial resistance is an emerging threats to public health, the problem is more severe in developing countries like Ethiopia where the burden of infectious diseases is relatively grater and healthcare spending is low. Drug resistance can be a natural phenomenon. Its proliferation, however, is attributed to multifaceted factor such as overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Nonprescription   sale of antibiotic is one of the major reasons to increase antibiotic consumption which facilitates emergence of drug resistance.  

The abuse of antimicrobials in the treatment procedures is the sole cause of emerging resistant strains of the common pathogen. Present study was intended to monitor the Methicillin Resistance and the antibiotic resistance pattern among the Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical specimens.  The antibiotic disc diffusion assay was used to study the resistance pattern. The confirmation of MRSA was done using cephoxitin 30 µg disc. The overall isolation rate of Staphylococcus aureus from different clinical samples was found to be 65.46% and showed dominance in clinical samples collected from males. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were detected at the rate of 43.36%. The recovery of MRSA was found to be higher in female gender. The highest resistance of Staphylococcus aureus was seen against the penicillin & ampicillin antibiotics; however the vancomycin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline and ofloxacin showed higher sensitivity. The study concludes that, the S. aureus acquired resistance to frequently used drugs and becomes major threat in its therapeutic management. Study recommends proper use of antibiotics to avoid the emergence of the drug resistant strains and the searching of new antimicrobials for controlling the resistant strains in urgency. 

Vibrio cholerae has been recognised as one of the common causes of bacterial diarrhoea throughout developing world. Cholera is a self-limiting illness. However it is changing epidemiologically. In recent cholera outbreaks from various places, severity of the disease appears to be intensifying and have run a more protracted course. Multiple antibiotic resistant strains of V. cholerae have emerged. The emergence of these has added a new dimension to the variability in pathogenicity and potential virulence in precipitating diarrhoeal illness. To isolate and identify Vibrio cholerae from stool specimens and to know their antibiotic susceptibility pattern. Faecal specimens collected from 240 patients with acute diarrhoeal disease were subjected to culture & sensitivity as per standard protocol. Vibrio cholerae was isolated from 72/240 (30%) stool samples. All isolates belonged to biotype El Tor. Serotype Ogawa was seen in 66(91.67%) and Hikojima 6(8.33%). Resistance pattern of Ogawa was nalidixic acid (100%), co-trimoxazole(97%), Ampicillin(79%), tetracycline(29%), ciprofloxacin(25%), gentamycin(18%). Resistant pattern of Hikojima was nalidixic acid (100%), co-trimoxazole(100%), Ampicillin & ciprofloxacin(67%), gentamycin(33%), tetracycline(16%). All isolates were sensitive to Amikacin. Tetracycline is still an effective drug. Hikojima serotype was more resistant than Ogawa so susceptibility pattern for vibrio is essential to avoid emergence of resistant strains by empirical treatment.