Antibiogram and Plasmid Mediated Resistance in Bacteria Isolated from Infected Wounds

Bacterial infection of wound plays an important role in the development of chronicity and delayed healing. In this study, a total of 50 wound swabs were aseptically collected from patients attending specialist hospital Jimeta Yola, Adamawa State and were screened for bacteria. The isolates were identified using Gram-staining and biochemical tests. Eight different bacterial species were identified with Staphylococcus aureus having the highest occurrence with 11(26.19%), followed by Escherichia coli 8(19.05%), Klebsiella pneumoniae 6(14.29%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis 5(11.9%), Proteus vulgaris, Streptococcus pyogenes 3(7.14%) and lastly, Bacillus subtilis with 1(2.38%). Antibiotic susceptibility test using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method revealed that most of the Gram-positive isolates significantly resisted oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. Most Gram negatives significantly resisted septrin, chloramphenicol, amoxicillin, augmentin and pefloxacin. Ciprofloxacin was 100% effective against both Gram positive and Gram-negative isolates. Plasmid curing of resistant isolates using 10% sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) revealed that resistance to penicillin, oxacillin, amoxicillin, augmentin and pefloxacin were plasmid borne whereas chloramphenicol and septrin (trimethoprim) were not. Bacteria associated with wound infections encompass both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria in nearly equal proportions with high rate of resistance among the isolates.