Secondary bacterial infections and antibiotic resistance among tungiasis patients in Western, Kenya

This study sought to shed light on the bacterial pathogens causing secondary infections in tungiasis lesions and their susceptibility profiles to commonly prescribed antibiotics. Participants were recruited with the help of Community Health Workers. Swabs were taken from lesions which showed signs of secondary infection. Identification of suspected bacteria colonies was done by colony morphology, Gram staining, and biochemical tests. The Kirby Bauer disc diffusion test was used to determine the drug susceptibility profiles. Out of 37 participants, from whom swabs were collected, specimen were positive in 29 and 8 had no growth. From these, 10 different strains of bacteria were isolated. Two were Gram positive bacteria and they were,Staphylocccus epidermidis (38.3%) andStaphylococcus aureus (21.3%). Eight were Gram negative namelyEnterobacter cloacae (8.5%),Proteus species (8.5%),Klebsiellla species (6.4%),Aeromonas sobria (4.3%),Citrobacter species (4.3%),Proteus mirabillis(4.3%),Enterobacter amnigenus (2.1%) andKlebsiella pneumoniae (2.1%). The methicillin resistantS.aureus (MRSA) isolated were also resistant to clindamycin, kanamycin, erythromycin, nalidixic acid, trimethorprim sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline. All the Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria isolates were sensitive to gentamicin and norfloxacin drugs. Results from this study confirms the presence of resistant bacteria in tungiasis lesions hence highlighting the significance of secondary infection of the l...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research