@article{ajidm2021924,
author={{Nkatha, Mururu Lilian and Kangogo, Mourine and Waititu, Kenneth Kariuki and Sang, Willie Kipkemboi},
title={Characterization of Selected <i>Escherichia coli</i> Pathovars and Their Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns among Diarrheal Children under the Age of Five Years from Machakos County, Kenya},
journal={American Journal of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology},
volume={9},
number={2},
pages={51--55},
year={2021},
url={http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajidm/9/2/4},
issn={2328-4064},
abstract={<b>Background</b><b>: </b>Diarrheal diseases constitute an important cause of<b> </b>death among children under the age of five years globally. These diseases are caused by diarrheagenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> including enteropathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> and enterotoxigenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> among other agents. Treatment and management of diarrheal diseases including EPEC and ETEC is complicated by rapidly developing problem of antimicrobial resistance. <b>Methods: </b>Stool samples were collected from children under the age of five years attending Machakos Level 5 hospital. <i>Escherichia coli</i> was isolated and identified by culture-based techniques followed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction using primers specific for virulence genes associated with EPEC and ETEC pathovars. Confirmed EPEC and ETEC pathovars were subjected to a panel of eight antimicrobial agents. <b>Results: </b>Both EPEC and ETEC were detected in 29/118 (24.6%) samples collected during the study period. Prevalence of EPEC was higher 18 (15.3%) compared to ETEC that was detected in 11 (9.3%) samples analyzed. ETEC appeared to be more resistant to ampicillin (90.9%, 66.7%), trimethoprim (81.8%, 77.8%), gentamicin (45.5%, 22.2%), chloramphenicol (27.3%, 16.3%), cefuroxime (18.2%, 5.6%) and ciprofloxacin (9.1%, 5.6%) compared to EPEC respectively. On the other hand, EPEC displayed higher resistance against nalidixic acid (38.9%, 36.4%) and tetracycline (33.3%, 18.2%) compared to ETEC isolates. <b>Conclusion:</b> The role of EPEC and ETEC as a cause of infantile diarrhea cannot be underestimated in Machakos County, Kenya since they are both pathogenic and resistant to commonly used antimicrobial agents.},
doi={10.12691/ajidm-9-2-4}
publisher={Science and Education Publishing}
}