Molecular epidemiology of vibrio cholerae causing outbreaks and sporadic cholera in and around Hassan district and its antibiotic susceptibility pattern

Introduction: Aim of the study is isolation and identification of V cholerae followed by study of clonal relationship between isolates by molecular typing methods, molecular characterization by detection of genes coding for cholera toxin (CTX) & toxin- co-regulated pili (TCP) and study of antibiotic susceptibility pattern of V cholerae isolates Materials and Methods: 74 V cholerae isolates from 620 stool samples were included in study. Isolation, identification and antibiogram done by using standard techniques. Clonal relationship between isolates studied by RAPD assays. Molecular characterization done by detection of CTX and TCP using multiplex PCR. Results: 74 V. cholerae 01 biotype El Tor serotype Ogawa isolated from 620 stool samples with isolation rate of 11.94%. 38 of 46 isolates were positive for CTX – A and TCP – A El Tor by multiplex PCR. All 46 isolates were negative for TCP-A classical. 38 isolates subjected to RAPD typing assays revealed 11 different RAPD types. Antibiotic sensitivity tests for the isolates revealed the presence of diverse sensitivity patterns. 97.3% of isolates were multidrug resistant (MDR). 2.7% of isolates remained sensitive to all tested antibiotics. Conclusion: V. cholerae 01 biotype El Tor serotype Ogawa is currently circulating type in our geographical region. All isolates tested positive for CTX and TCP indicating that circulating strains are pathogenic in nature. Presence of different RAPD types indicates that cholera is endemic in this region with periodic epidemics. Presence of large number of MDR isolates necessitates curbing of irrational use of antibiotics to prevent further spread of drug resistance