Antibiotic Sensitivity Profile of Salmonella typhi Associated with Acute Diarrhoea Among Children in Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

Acute diarrhoea remains as one of the most prevalent diseases affecting young children in developing countries. The objective of the study is to isolate, characterized and determine the antibiotic sensitivity profile of Salmonella typhi associated with acute diarrhoea among children in Kano, Nigeria. Thirty-seven (37) Faecal samples from children (ranges from 1 -5 years) diagnosed with acute diarrhoea admitted to paediatric ward of Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital Kano were collected. The samples were streaked onto the surface of plate containing Nutrient agar using standard method for bacterial isolation. The Salmonella typhi was identified based on Gram staining, cultural characteristics and biochemical test. The bacteria isolate was subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing using the agar disc diffusion method. The result showed 22 out of 37 samples were positive for Salmonella typhi which accounted for 59.6%. Higher incidence of Salmonella was found among subjects of age between 2 -3 years. The sensitivity pattern of the isolate showed that it is sensitive to ampicillin, Augmentin, amoxicillin, levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin. Amoxicillin was found to be the most effect antibiotic with average zone of inhibition of 23.3 mm. On the other hand, the isolate was resistant to streptomycin, pefloxacin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin and erythromycin. Findings of this study justify Salmonella as one of the bacteria causing acute diarrhoea in children.