Surveillance of multidrug resistance of two Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria in a teaching hospital and in vitro efficacy of 30 ethnomedicinal plants used by an aborigine of India

Objective: To record hospital- and community-acquired accounts of multidrug resistance (MDR)\udof two Gram-positive pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Enterococcus faecalis (E.\udfaecalis), by surveillance, and to evaluate antibacterial potencies of 30 plants with information on\udethnomedicinal uses for infectious ailments by the aborigine Kandha tribe of Kalahandi district,\udOdisha (India), against both pathogens. Methods: Over a period of 6 months bacteria/ strains\udof S. aureus and E. faecalis were isolated from clinical samples in a teaching hospital and their\udantibiograms were ascertained using 17 antibiotics of 9 different groups. S. aureus strains were\udfurther tested for confirmation if they were methicillin and vancomycin resistant, similarly, E.\udfaecalis strains for vancomycin resistance. Concentrated aqueous and ethanolic extracts of leaves/\udbarks of 30 plants were used for monitoring their antimicrobial potencies, by the agar-well\uddiffusion method, along with qualitative phytochemical analyses. Results: From the surveillance,\udboth pathogens were found MDR and it was evident that the distribution of MDR strains was more\udin hospital-acquired than community-acquired samples. Both aqueous and ethanolic extracts\udof plants, Diospyrous melanoxylon, Woodfordia fruticosa (W. fruticosa), Oroxylum indicum (O.\udindicum), Dalbergia paniculata and Lantana camara had the most significant in vitro controlling\udcapacity against MDR strains of both bacteria. Further, extracts of Holarrhena antidysenterica,\udAspidopterys tomentosa and Argyreia speciosa had moderate antibacterial activities. Ethanolic\udextracts of L. camara, O. indicum and W. fruticosa contained all the phytochemicals, alkaloids,\udglycosides, terpenoids, reducing sugars, saponins, tannins, flavonoids and steroids, which\udcould be attributed to the recorded significant antibacterial activity. Conclusions: S. aureus\udstrains have been found as the most widely prevailing pathogens in nosocomial settings, than in\udcommunity. Plants, L. camara. W. fruticosa, O. indicum and P. santalinus, particularly could be\uduseful for a use as complementary/ supplementary/alternative therapeutic agents against Grampositive pathogens