Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing organisms have become a serious challenge in healthcare delivery globally. The prevalence of ESBL carriage in healthy and sick children in Enugu, Nigeria, was bacteriologically investigated in this study. Four hundred and twenty-two biological samples (mid-stream urine and feces) were bacteriologically analyzed. The isolates were screened for ESBL production using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoints. The suspected ESBL producers were confirmed using double disc synergy test method. Out of the 162 isolates screened, 32 (19.8%) were confirmed as ESBL positive, with a prevalence of 25.32% among sick children in Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), Parklane, Enugu and 13.89% in apparently healthy children in a community setting. Klebsiella spp. and Escherichia coli had the highest prevalence of 34.6% and 28.6%, respectively; Citrobacter spp. and Enterobacter spp. were 18.2% and 16.7%, respectively. The ESBL positive isolates were resistant to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (100%), tetracycline (100%), kanamycin (96.9%), nitrofurantoin (84.4%), ciprofloxacin (68.6%), and chloramphenicol (62.5%) but susceptible to meropenem (100%), colistin (56.3%), and gentamicin (50%). Klebsiella spp. had the highest ESBL occurrence among sick children while E. coli had the highest ESBL occurrence among healthy children in Enugu. All ESBL-positive isolates were multiply resistant to conventional antibiotics. The emergence and spread of β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in hospital and community environments highlight the possibility for an infection outbreak if not checked.
Keywords: ESBL; Enterobacteriaceae; antibiotic resistance; childhood infections; gram-negative bacteria.