Evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli strains isolated in Rabat University Hospital (Morocco).

Background: Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the most commonly isolated bacteria in human pathology. In Morocco the data concerning the nature and the rates of antibiotic resistance of E. coli in both hospitals and city environment remains relatively poor and needs further investigations.

Methods: During a 16 months period, E. coli isolates were collected from different culture specimens received in the Bacteriology Department of the Military teaching Hospital Mohammed-V-Rabat for routine diagnostic purposes. E. coli isolates were identified and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern was determined.

Results: A total of 1369 E. coli isolates comprising 33% (1369/4110) of culture-positive samples were consecutively collected. Isolates of E. coli were, in 40.5% (554/1369) of cases from hospitalized patients and in 59.5% (815/1369) of cases from outpatients. Urine isolates represented 82% (1123/1369) of the cases. High rates of resistance were found for amoxicillin (42.5%), cefalotin (30.4%), norfoloxacin (29.9%) and sulfamethoxazole (37.7%). The detection rate of ESBL was 6.1% (85/1369). In hospitalized patients 11.9% of the isolates of E. coli (66/554) had an ESBL phenotype while in outpatients cases only 2.3% of isolates of E. coli (19/815) had this phenotype.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that more judicious use of antibiotics is needed especially in probabilistic treatment. The emergence of ESBL in the Moroccan cities is an indicator of the severity of this problem that is not limited to health care facilities.