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Resistance to antimicrobial drugs in Ghana

Authors Newman M, Frimpong E, Donkor ES , Opintan JA, Asamoah-Adu A

Published 21 December 2011 Volume 2011:4 Pages 215—220

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IDR.S21769

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Mercy J Newman1, Enoch Frimpong2, Eric S Donkor1, Japheth A Opintan1, Alex Asamoah-Adu3
1Department of Microbiology, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana, 2School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, 3Public Health Reference Laboratory, Korle-Bu, Accra, Ghana

Background: Antimicrobial drug resistance is a global issue that affects health, economic, and social development. The problem has been attributed to misuse of antimicrobial agents.
Purpose: To identify the agents of bacterial infection in Ghana, determine their antibiogram, and the possibility of setting up a surveillance program.
Patients and methods: A prospective quantitative study set in various hospitals including two teaching hospitals, seven regional hospitals, and two district hospitals in Ghana. A total of 5099 bacterial isolates from various clinical specimens were collected over a period of 1 year, including data related to the patients. Susceptibility of the isolates was determined by the Kirby–Bauer method. In addition, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of multidrug-resistant isolates of epidemiological significance was also determined using the E-test.
Results: A wide range of bacterial isolates were identified in both teaching and regional hospitals. High percentage of resistance was observed for tetracycline (82%), cotrimoxazole (73%), ampicillin (76%), and chloramphenicol (75%). Multidrug resistance was observed to a combination of ampicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and cotrimoxazole. On the other hand, a lower percentage of resistance was observed for ceftriaxone (6.3%), ciprofloxacin (11%), and amikacin (9.9%).
Conclusion: Generally, the prevalence of multidrug resistance was widespread among the various isolates. Some multidrug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, and non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) had high MIC to cefuroxime (>256), gentamicin (>256), and ciprofloxacin (>32).

Keywords: antimicrobial agents, multidrug resistance, MIC

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