Exploring the virulence pattern and antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli strains isolated from diarrheal stool in Benin

Abstract

This research study aims to probing the virulence genes of Escherichia coli isolated from children aged 0-5 years diarrheal stool samples upon admission in two hospitals in Cotonou, Benin. A collection of 100 E. coli strains were isolated and characterized for five intestinal virulent genes through a multiplex PCR. The characterization was supplemented by a survey of the antibiotic-resistance of these strains. Among the studied virulence genes, only the intimine coding gene, eae gene was found in a proportion of 9%. Moreover, E. coli strains show higher resistance to Ampicillin (82%), Tetracycline (79%), Trimethoprim Sulfamethoxazole (77%), Amoxicillin + Clavulanic Acid (75%) and strong sensitivity to Imipenem. By way of conclusion, the positive eae-isolation of E. coli implies that this pathogen is an important etiology of gastroenteritis in Benin.

Keywords: Virulent genes, Escherichia coli, antibiotics- resistance, Benin