Occurrence and anti-microbial susceptibility pattern of extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae in governmental hospitals wastewater in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background Worldwide, come out and dissemination of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) producing Enterobacteriaceae has been warning the efficacy of antibiotics to treat an infection. Hospital wastewaters were a reservoir of such kind of resistant bacteria. Currently, the predominant antibiotics used for the treatment of hospitalized patients infected by Gram-negative bacteria are the [beta]-lactam antibiotics. Therefore, it is an important source to investigate the magnitude of ESBLs producing bacteria and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. This study aimed to determine the occurrence of ESBLs producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBLs-pE) and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern in wastewater released from five governmental hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1 to May 31, 2020. A total of 100 wastewaters were collected from five governmental hospitals in Addis Ababa using a grap-sampling technique. All Enterobacteriaceae were screened for ESBLs production using cefotaxime and ceftazidime as per 29th CLSI guideline. Each screen positive for ESBLs production was confirmed by the combination disk method (CDT) and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern was done using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method on Muller Hinton agar (MHA). Data were entered and summarized using SPSS version 20 software. Results Of all Enterobacteriaceae, 48.3% were confirmed ESBLs-pE. The highest ratio of ESBLs-PE was observed in the adult ward (66.7%) and laundry unit effluent (58.8%). The highest ESBL producers were E. coli (21.8%) and K. pneumoniae (4.8%). The most elevated resistance level of ESBL producers were observed to cefotaxime (95.8%) and amoxicillin/clavunalate (93%). 64% of tested Enterobacteriaceae isolates were multi drug resistant (MDR). Conclusions Higher magnitude of MDR and ESBLs-pE were present in the hospital wastewater. The majority of them were in the adult ward and laundry unit effluents. The most frequent ESBLs-pE was among E.coli and K. pneumoniae. Hence, Consistent infection prevention and control procedures should be in practice at each ward/unit. Keywords: Hospital, Wastewater, Beta lactamase, ESBLs, Enterobacteriaceae, Multi-drug resistance