Occurrence of drug-resistant bacteria in communal well water around Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

A total of 108 raw water samples was collected from 36 wells at nine shanty settlements around Port Harcourt, Nigeria, over a period of 7 months. Samples were analysed for their bacteriological quality. Selected bacterial strains isolated from the samples were tested for their susceptibility to ten commonly used antibiotics. The organisms isolated include Pseudomonas spp., Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus spp., Proteus spp., Enterococcus faecalis, Aeromonas spp., Escherichia coli, Chromobacterium spp., Flavobacterium spp., and Serratia spp. Out of 300 strains tested, 23 (6.9%) were susceptible to all the antibiotics, 277 (92.3%) were resistant to at least one antibiotic and 232 (77.3%) were resistant to two or more antibiotics. The epidemiological significance of these results is discussed.

Resistance to antibiotics of heavy metal‐tolerant and heavy metal‐sensitive bacterial strains

“…This result is in good agreement with those obtained by other authors for strains isolated from natural environments. Ibiebiele and Sokari [1] reported 77% resistance to two or more antibiotics. Alvero [5] obtained 71% resistance to one or more antimicrobial agents and Sjogren and Port [18] quote a resistance of 92 and 77% for the total coliforms isolated from two sources.…”

“…Studies on antibiotic resistance profiles of environmental isolates of bacteria revealed that antibiotic resistance is a common phenomenon among these organisms, even in those found in apparently clean waters [1][2][3] Jones et al [4] found the resistances of aquatic bacteria from a remote environment to be WNOROWSKI higher than those of bacteria isolated from a reservoir subjected to human influence. High levels of antibiotic resistance were also noted among bacteria in two non-polluted lakes by Alvero [5].…”

The Causes and the Control of Selective Pollution of Shallow Wells by Coliform Bacteria, Imo River Basin Nigeria

“…Some have ranked typhoid fever as more dreaded than the traditional prevalent malaria, and described a serious attack by a combination of malaria and typhoid fever as an overnight killer of younger children in the area. Ibiebele and Sokari (1989), Lateef and Gueguimkana (2005) etc. have reported levels of drug-resistant bacteria in well water.…”

“…have reported levels of drug-resistant bacteria in well water. According to Ibiebele and Sokari (1989), out of 300 strains of bacteria isolated from shallow well water around Port-Harcourt, close to the study area, about 77.3% were resistant to two or more of the common antibiotics. In this study, water samples were analyzed using HACH spectrophotometer test kit with tryptose broth and MUG reagent within 24 hours of sampling.…”

Successful treatment of Chromobacterium violaceum sepsis in South Africa

“…More recently, a disturbing increase in cases of neonatal septicaemia due to C. violaceum has been noted in a teaching hospital in southeastern Nigeria, which was attributed to a lack of a public water supply (Anah et al, 2008). The organism has been cultured from water sources in Nigeria and Uganda before (Byamukama et al, 2005;Ibiebele & Sokari, 1989). In this case report we review our experience with a C. violaceum infection in a neutropenic leukaemia patient receiving intensive chemotherapy.…”