A study on plasmid mediated ciprofloxacin resistance in pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae isolated in a tertiary care hospital

Nirupa Soundararajan; Priyadarshini Shanmugham

Volume : VIII, Issue : VI, June - 2019

A study on plasmid mediated ciprofloxacin resistance in pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae isolated in a tertiary care hospital

Nirupa Soundararajan, Priyadarshini Shanmugham

Abstract :

Introduction: Widespread use of fluoroquinolones has resulted in the emergence of resistance to fluoroquinolones. There are many loci in bacterial genomes which are associated with quinolone resistance. This study aims at detecting two quinolone resistant plasmids in pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae isolates from various clinical samples received in the microbiology lab. Materials and methods: This study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital for a period of 6 months. All the Enterobacteriaceae isolated from the clinical samples in the lab were identified and subjected to antibiotic sensitivity testing by Kirby Bauer�s disc diffusion technique according to CLSI guidelines. MIC of these ciprofloxacin resistant isolates were determined and those with MIC >0.5mg/L were subjected to polymerase chain reaction for the detection of qepA and aac–(61)–Ib–cr plasmids. Results and discussion: Escherichia coli was the most common isolate harbouring the plasmids of interest. 98% of the ciprofloxacin resistant isolates harboured the aac–(61)–Ib–cr plasmid while only 31 % of the ciprofloxacin resistant isolates harboured the qepA plasmid. Conclusion: Since these quinolone resistance plasmids were discovered after 1998, not many studies conducted in India to detect these plasmids. It is necessary to study the phenotypic and other changes associated with fluoroquinolone resistance to initiate suitable control measures.