Study of Applications of E-Test for the Detection of Beta Lactamase Producing Bacteria

Abstract

The term antimicrobial resistance refers to the ability to resist the effects of drugs formally used to treat them and this term relates only to bacteria becoming resistant. Microorganisms which are resistant to multiple drugs are known as multidrug resistant bacteria. Methods: Most of the experimental work to study the application of E-Test for detection of lactamase producing bacteria was carried out at Pathology Laboratory of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore. While the remaining research work was done in Microbiology Laboratory of Govt. Post Graduate Islamia College Cooper Road Lahore during the study period from December 2019 to March 2020.  Total 60 samples of different patients were collected from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore and most of the samples were urine (n=25), followed by Blood (n=14), Pus (n=14), and sputum (n=7). Oxidase, indole, citrate utilization, sugar fermentation (Kligler iron agar medium) and urease tests were performed for the identification bacterial strains. Results: In all of 60 samples frequency of occurrence of E. coli, Enterobacter and Klebsiella strains were 59%, 23%, 18% respectively. Most of them (n=36) were ESBLs positive and about (n=24) were ESBLs negative and their percentage were 60% and 40% respectively. Extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing strains of Enterobacteriaceae have now become as a significant issue in hospitalized and community patients. These microorganisms are liable for many diseases, for example, urinary tract infection, septicemia, hospitalized-acquired pneumonia, intra-abdominal abscess, brain abscess and device related infections. Conclusions: The frequency of ESBL producing bacteria in most hospitals is very high especially in the hospitals where broad spectrum antibiotics are generally recommended. Among gram negative bacteria, the emergence of resistance to expanded spectrum cephalosporins has been a major concern. Many of ESBL producing bacteria showed multidrug resistance.