ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE;

Since the development of antibiotics there is a growing concern about the increasing incidence of antibioticresistance. As a result the therapeutic value of originally effective antibiotics become significantly reduced overtimes. Extensive data isavailable on antibiotic susceptibilities of hospital isolates but very little information is available about the susceptibilities of community strains.Design: Descriptive. Period: July 2004 to June 2005. Setting: Department of Microbiology, Shaikh Zayed Hospital Lahore. Hence the presentstudy was design to assess the environmental load of the antibiotic resistance using fecal flora as an indicator of overall problem. It will alsoprovide guidance in antibiotic protocol for antibiotic policy. Objective: Objective of the present study was to determine the developingresistance to β – Lactam Antibiotics which is the commensal microbe of enteric tract. Materials & Methods: One hundred samples werecollected from ten different areas of Lahore city (10 samples from each area) and were inoculated on Mac Conkey’s agar. Five morphologicallydistinct lactose fermenting colonies were selected & identified using standard laboratory methods. Five hundred different colonies of E.coli wereidentified and analyzed for their susceptibility to b-lactam antibiotic. Results: Out of 500 isolates, the resistant isolates with ampicillin (48%), coamoxiclav(40%) and cephradine (37%) were detected, with cheaper oral agents high prevalence of resistance was detected. Conclusions:Ampicillin, co-amoxiclav and cephradine are not much useful for the treatment of urinary tract infection and septicemia caused by E-coli & otherMembers of fecal flora.