Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Patterns o f Enterococcus Species Isolated From Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria

ENGLISH/ ABSTRACT (ENGLISH/ ABSTRACT (ENGLISH/ ABSTRACT (ENGLISH/ ANGLAIS This study demonstrated the multiple antibiotic resistant patterns of Enterococcus species isolated from patients attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. A total of 310 samples comprising 110 (35.5%) stool, 100 (32.3%) urine and 100 (32.3%) wound swabs were analysed. The clinical samples yielded a total of 143 (46.1%) enterococcal isolates. All the isolates (100%) were susceptible to vancomycin. Thirty two (22.4%) strains were resistant only to single antibiotics. Seventy eight (54.6%) showed multiple resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, gentamycin, erythromycin and tetracycline. However, 33 (23%) of the isolates were susceptible to all the antibiotics tested. The results indicated that a significant percentage of isolates were resistant to different antibiotics used suggesting the need for control strategies to avoid dissemination of resistant isolates and emphasizing the importance of surveillance for the detection of emerging resistance traits.