Estimation of Antibacterial Resistance of Selected Strains in Khanpur Dam and its Tributaries

Abstract

The miraculous discovery of antibiotics has changed the era of modern medicine, but its discovery is under threat. Widespread prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes has posed serious risks to public health. Large number of deaths occur every year due to antibiotic resistance in whole world. Spread of resistant bacteria from environment to humans is a hot topic nowadays. No study was documented before on antibiotic resistant bacteria in current study area. This study aims to isolate enteric pathogens including Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri and Klebsiella pneumoniae and then testing their antimicrobial susceptibility towards ampicillin, levofloxacin, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim, tetracycline and metronidazole. These antibiotics are used for humans, livestock and aquaculture extensively. All these antibiotics are extensively used for all the life forms. It gives a complete picture of antibiotic resistance in study area. It was found that Khanpur dam and its tributaries including Nilan Nala, Exit stream, Haro river and Nilan Kas are polluted with all these pathogens in both summer and winter season. Nilan Kas downstream (1.58E+04 CFU/ml) was found most contaminated site during winter season. Nilan Nala (2.21E+04 CFU/ml) was the most contaminated site during summer. Majority (90.14%) of isolated strains were resistant to metronidazole used for humans and majority (74.17%) of isolates were susceptible to tetracycline used in livestock farming as well as for humans in smaller amounts. The most (65.25%) of isolated strains were susceptible to ofloxacin used for humans. SPSS analysis was performed to assess the level of education, attitude and practice regarding the use of antibiotics and its resistance. Nearby community and farm owners were interviewed. It was found generally people don’t have good level of knowledge, perfect attitude and best practice towards use of antibiotics to control the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Among the respondents, 87.5% from the community and 71.4% from the farms demonstrated good practice