Carriage of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli in adult intestinal flora.

Knowledge of antibiotic resistance in bacteria strains colonizing healthy people is important for several reasons, one of which is that; these organisms form one of the largest reservoirs of resistant genes. Frequency of resistance to eleven different antimicrobial agents was examined in faecal flora of adults with no history of recent antimicrobial treatment. Using the disc diffusion sensitivity test, 106 strains of Escherichia coli were examined, 68% of these were resistant to tetracycline, and 57% were resistant to ampicillin and cotrimoxazole respectively. There was no resistance to cefuroxime but resistance to ceftazidime was 13%. Fifty six out of the eighty eight (64%) isolates, which showed any resistance, were resistant to three or more antimicrobials. The most common resistant pattern was to three drugs tetracycline, ampicillin and cotrimoxazole. Six strains were susceptible to all antibiotics. One strain of Escherichia coli was resistant to eight antimicrobials. Thirty per cent of the Escherichia coli were resistant to gentamicin. This study reveals a high prevalence of resistant bacteria in faecal flora of healthy adults.