Asian Journal of Research in Infectious Diseases

The rise in multidrug resistance is a growing public health concern among agents of respiratory tract infection, which is responsible for morbidity, mortality and costs in Africa. This study was designed to survey for multidrug resistant bacterial pathogens in patients with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) attending some hospitals in Kebbi State, Nigeria. Three hundred and fifty sputum samples were collected from patients with the symptoms of LRTI attending six different hospitals in Kebbi State. The samples were all screened for bacterial pathogens using standard microbiological techniques. The bacterial isolates were identified using conventional biochemical tests and then confirmed using commercial biochemical test kit (MICROBACT) according to manufacturer’s instruction. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were determined using disc diffusion method to detect resistant isolates as well as multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates. The overall incidence of multidrug-resistant isolates in this study was 39.8%. High level of MDR was observed among Staphylococcus aureus (28.0%) and then Klebsiella pneumoniae (21.0%). MDR were also detected amongst Aeromonas hydrophila (11.6%), Pseudomanas aeruginosa (11.6.0%), Klebsiella oxytoca (11.6%), Burkholderia pseudomallei (7.1%)  Escherichia coli (4.7%) and Acinetobacter baumannii (4.7%). In conclusion, MDR isolates were predominately isolated among Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics remains the risk factor for developing multidrug resistance isolates.