Assessment of Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria from a Lentic Freshwater Body in Iwo, Nigeria

Aims: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has become a major public health concern, the aim was to study bacterial resistance to antibiotics in bacteria isolated from Aiba water sampled from 4 locations in 3 different months
Place and Duration of Study: Water samples were collected from Aiba reservoir Iwo and Isolation and characterization of bacteria was carried out at the Department of Biological Sciences, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State between January 2013 and December 2013.
Methodology: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics was studied by collecting representative spatial and seasonal water samples from 4 locations and in 3 different months respectively. Isolation and identification of bacteria were carried out using standard isolation and biochemical methods. Antibiotic sensitivity testing was done for 8 antibiotics using the standard Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Multivariate statistical analysis and plots were carried out using PAST software.
Results: One hundred percent (100%) of the isolates were resistant to cloxacillin followed by amoxicillin (87%), co-trimoxazole (78.3%) and augmentin (76%). Both gentamycin and ofloxacin recorded resistance of <10%. Thirty eight point five percent (38.5%) of the bacteria isolates were resistant to 4 antibiotics while only 11.5% exhibited mono-resistance.
Conclusion: The presence of high level multidrug resistance signifies a public health hazard.