Antimicrobial Resistance and Plasmid Profiles of Campylobacter Species from Infants Presenting with Diarrhoea in Osun State, Nigeria

Antibiotic resistance among enteric bacterial pathogens complicates the heavy diarrhoea disease burden. Antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. to fluoroquinolones, which are generally used for the treatment of bacterial gastroenteritis, has increased during the past two decades, mainly as a result of the approval of this group of antimicrobials for use in food-producing animals. The aim is to determine the frequency of resistance of campylobacter to various antimicrobial agents and the relationship between antimicrobial agents of the isolates and the presence of plasmid. Twenty five Campylobacter isolates gotten from humans were subjected to antibiotics testing using Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method as well as standard E-test method. The plasmid profile of the isolates was determined using the Alkaline phosphatise procedure. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing of these isolates showed that all were sensitive to Erythromycin and Ciprofloxacin while none was sensitive to co-trimoxazole. The standard organisms were sensitive to co-trimoxazole (80%) and ciprofloxacin (65%) but were resistant to erythromycin (70%). No plasmid was found in streptomycin and ampicillin resistant strains, with the exception of four isolates which were co-trimoxazole-resistant and which contained around 24.4kb plasmids.