Antibiotic Resistance Profile and Clonality of E. coli Isolated from Water and Paediatric Stool Samples in the North-West, Province South Africa

Abstract

This study investigated the antibacterial resistance profiles of E. coli pathotypes isolated from children under five years and drinking water samples collected from the North West Province of South Africa and ascertained the clonality of the isolates. Two hundred and forty-one E. coli isolates were recovered from stool samples of diarrhoeic and non-diarrhoeic children under five years old, and drinking water, using the Colilert-18 ® Quanti-tray/2000 and Eosin methylene blue agar. The presence of enteropathogenic (eaeA), enterohaemorrhagic (eaeA,stx1, stx2 and flicH7), enteroaggregative (eagg), enteroinvasive (ipaH) and enterotoxigenic (ST and LT) E. coli pathotypes were also investigated using PCR. Antibiotic susceptibility was carried out through the disk diffusion method. The presence of blaCTX-M, blaSHV, blaCMY, and blaDHA genes that code for β-lactamases was investigated using real-time PCR. Similarities between human and water isolates were tested using ERIC-PCR. Overall, EHEC (35.8%), EPEC/EHEC (22%), ETEC (21.6%) and EIEC (20.2%) were detected. The highest antibiotic resistance was detected to Clarithromycin (100%) and Erythromycin (100%) while the lowest resistance was against Gentamicin (0.4%). Also, 100% sensitivity was recorded to imipenem and meropenem. Multi-antibiotic resistance was observed in all the pathotypes, and the ESBL genes were detected in 71.6% of the pathotypes. ERIC-PCR indicated 100% similarities in some water and human samples. Pathogenic E. coli is amongst the diarrhoea-causing agents in the North West Province with EHEC being the most identified pathotype. The clonal relatedness of the human and water isolates suggests that domestic water might be a route of transmission.

Systematic review and meta‐analysis of integrated studies on antimicrobial resistance genes in Africa—A One Health perspective

“…A recent study by Chukwu et al investigated the resistance profiles of E. coli pathotypes isolated from paediatric stool samples and drinking water in South Africa and examined the clonality of the isolates. The overall similarity between isolates from water and human sources was estimated between 80% and 90%, suggesting that domestic water plays an important role in the transmission of E. coli within the studied community setting [27] and emphasising the need for a comprehensive analysis of AMR in the wider context. Figure 4 summarises the relationship of humans, livestock, food, excreta, water and the environment reported in the 18 studies.…”

Burden, Antibiotic Resistance, and Clonality of Shigella spp. Implicated in Community-Acquired Acute Diarrhoea in Lilongwe, Malawi

“…Previously extracted genomic DNA (2 µL) was in a total reaction volume of 10 µL containing 0.1 µL (10 µM) primers and 5 µL DreamTaq, and the volume made up with nuclease-free water. The primers ERIC_1 5′-ATG TAA GCT CCT GGG GAT TCA C-3′ and ERIC_2 5′-AAG TAA GTG ACT GGG GTG AGC G-3′ were used [ 32 ], and the PCR conditions were as previously described by Chukwu et al [ 33 ]. ERIC-PCR products were loaded on a 1% (w/vol) agarose gel and visualised by UV transillumination (Syngene, Cambridge, UK) after staining in 0.1 mg/mL ethidium bromide for 15 min.…”

Genetic Characterization Among Carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli Strains Using Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus Polymerase Chain Reaction (ERIC-PCR) Fingerprinting in South Africa

“…This is the rst study reporting the genetic diversity of carbapenem-resistant E. coli strains isolated from different environmental sources in the Eastern Cape Province, with other studies by Montso et al [78] and Chukwu et al [79] reporting on the genotypic diversity of E. coli isolates recovered from farms and water samples respectively both in the North West Province.…”