Widespread antibiotic resistance in savannah Nigeria

There is minimal data on antibiotic resistance from savannah northern Nigeria. A retrospective study of 438 patients seen in 12 months (2000) with microbial pathogens from urinary and respiratory tracts was undertaken. Antibiotic susceptibilities were determined using stokes disc diffusion technique. Resistance in Escherichia coli (E. coli) reached 91-96% to cotrimoxazole, tetracycline and ampicillin but was 11%, 17% and 28% to colistin, nitrofurantoin and nalidixic acid. Resistance of other uropathogens (Klebsiella and Proteus spp) reached 83-99% to cotrimoxazole, tetracycline and ampicillin but was 14-40% to colistin, nitrofurantoin and nalidixic acid. Pneumococci were non-susceptible to penicillin (93%), cotrimoxazole (92%), tetracycline (84%), ampicillin (53%), chloramphenicol (21%) and cefazolin (8%). Antibiotic resistance is widespread in savannah northern Nigeria. Resistance is less to chloramphenicol, colistin, nalidixic acid, nitrofurantoin and the latter generation cephalosporins and quinolones than to penicillin, ampicillin, cotrimoxazole and tetracycline.