Evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli isolated from contaminated areas of Majengo slum in Meru County, Kenya

<ns3:p> Background Antimicrobial drug resistance is of great concern today. Infections by the antimicrobial resistant strains of <ns3:italic>Escherichia coli</ns3:italic> , including enteropathogenic as well as enterotoxigenic strains have been reported as a major cause of deaths, especially among young children in low- and middle-income countries. This has been augmented by antimicrobial misuse, over the counter availability and poor sanitation especially in low income areas. This study aimed at characterizing antimicrobial resistant strains of <ns3:italic>Escherichia coli</ns3:italic> isolated from sanitation environments of the Majengo slum in Meru County, Kenya Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 61 samples from soil, water and drains swabs. These were tested against five antimicrobial drugs by the Kirby disk diffusion method. Results A total of 42 (69%) of the samples had <ns3:italic>Escherichia coli.</ns3:italic> These recorded antimicrobial drug susceptibility as follows: Out of the five antimicrobial agents used, ceftazidime 28 (66.67%) showed the highest sensitivity followed by ciprofloxacin 26 (61.90%) and imepenem 25 (59.52%) respectively. cefotaxime and cefoxitin showed least sensitivity at 14 (33.33%) and 13 (30.95%) respectively. In intermediate imepenem and ciprofloxacin were the highest with 12 (28.57%) followed by cefotaxime 10 (23.81%). The least intermediate was observed in ceftazidime and cefoxitin both at 7 (16.67%). The highest resistance was observed in cefoxitin 22 (52.38%), followed by cefotaxime at 18 (42.86%). Ciprofloxacin, imepenem and ceftazidime had the lowest resistance 4 (9.52%), 5 (11.91%) and 7 (16.67%) respectively. The p-value <0.05 was considered significant to the study. Conclusions This study showed that <ns3:italic>Escherichia coli</ns3:italic> isolated from Majengo is pathogenic and resistant to antibiotics. Detection of <ns3:italic>Escherichia coli</ns3:italic> poses a great risk in the spread of resistant strains in human. Proper sanitation and hygiene awareness practices should be provided through education to the residents of this area. </ns3:p>