Multiple antibiotic resistance indexing of coliforms to identify high risk contamination sites in aquatic environment.

Bacteriological analysis of the water samples collected from upstream, midstream and downstream points along the bank of the river revealed high populations of Escherichia coli, Citrobacter freundii, Citrobacter diversus, Enterobacter aerogens and Klebsiella species. All these isolates were screened against eight antibiotics to determine the prevalence of multiple antibiotic resistance among isolates at different sites of the river. The study revealed that multiple antibiotic resistance was prominently seen in coliforms at downstream sites (Average multiple antibiotic resistance index, MAR Index = 0.43) while it was low in coliforms at upstream sites (MAR Index = 0.15). These differences in MAR indices provide a method for distinguishing high risk contamination sites in aquatic environment.