The menace of beta-lactamase production on antibiotic prescription in community acquired-infections in Nigeria.

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is a major clinical problem in the management of infectious diseases. The production of beta-lactamases by pathogens of all grades which has spread extensively during the last decade has further narrowed down the choice of antibiotics. Those antibiotics that are efficacious are costly and not readily available. The purposes of this study therefore were: To evaluate the incidence of beta-lactamase producing organisms responsible for common community-acquired infections. To evaluate the incidence of bacterial resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics in the general practice. Nitrocefin strip was used to test each isolate for beta-lactamase production. All isolates were tested against five commonly prescribed antibiotics and a new oral cephalosporin. A nationwide survey revealed that 78% of community-acquired pathogens produced beta-lactamases while more than 50% of most community isolated showed in-vitro resistance to most commonly prescribed antibiotics. We conclude that treatment of bacterial infections are becoming more difficult and more costly. There is need therefore to continually review the susceptibility profiles of community-acquired pathogens.

• Authors: A O Oyelese, E A Oyewo
• Journal: African journal of medicine and medical sciences (Afr J Med Med Sci) Vol. 24 Issue 2 Pg. 125-30 (Jun 1995) ISSN: 0309-3913 [Print] Nigeria
• PMID: 8669389 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Multicenter Study)

Chemical References

• Anti-Bacterial Agents
• beta-Lactamases

Topics

• Anti-Bacterial Agents (therapeutic use)
• Bacterial Infections (drug therapy, epidemiology, microbiology)
• Community-Acquired Infections (drug therapy, epidemiology, microbiology)
• Drug Prescriptions (statistics & numerical data)
• Drug Resistance, Microbial
• Drug Utilization
• Humans
• Incidence
• Microbial Sensitivity Tests
• Nigeria (epidemiology)
• beta-Lactamases