Resistance Profiles of Bacteria Isolated from Wastewater in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital

Antibiotics have always been considered one of the wonderful discoveries of the 20th century. Their use as effective antibacterial agents was however short-lived, as bacteria started developing resistance almost as soon as the agents were discovered. The worrisome growth of antibiotic resistance is blamed primarily on the misuse and overuse of the agents in human and agricultural settings. This study was carried out to identify common bacterial species in hospital wastewater and to determine their pattern of resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Grab samples were collected from the general wastewater channel of The University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri. The bacterial isolates identified were E. coli, S. enterica, P. aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, K. pneumoniae, V. cholerae, M. morganii, Proteus vulgaris and C. fruendii. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was assayed using the Modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Resistance was highest with Nalidixic Acid (100%) and lowest with Ciprofloxacin and Streptomycin (20% each). Others include Ceporex and Ampicillin (88% each), Tarivid, Gentamycin and Septrin (50% each), Reflacine (63%) and Augmentin (75%). Out of all the antibiotics used, E. coli showed 100% resistance whereas M. morganii was susceptible to all the antibiotics except Gentamycin and Erythromycin. It was found that, except for M. morganii, all the isolates were multi drug resistant suggesting that they have been well exposed to antibiotics and thus, developed multi resistance. This emphasizes the need for surveillance on trends in antibiotic resistance and development of alternative therapy to tackle antibiotic-resistant bacteria.