The objective of this work is to describe the trends in antimicrobial resistance profiles of E. coli strains isolated from various clinical specimens at the main hospital in Dakar over a ten-year period. This was a retrospective, cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study over 10 years 2012–2021] of all E. coli isolated at the HPD laboratory. Data were collected from the INLOG laboratory information system. The descriptive analysis of the data obtained was done with the software Excel (version 16.78.3, 23102801) and R (4.3.3). Of 23,311 bacterial species isolated, 7,797 E. coli (33.4%) were identified. The median age of patients was 52 (23–69), 1D; 100 years old] with a slight male predominance, sex ratio at 1.1. The resistance rates of E. coli to antibiotics were generally high: 85% with ampicillin, 46% with amoxicillin + clavulanic acid, 27% with cephalosporins of 3rd generation and 43% with pefloxacin. Between 2012 and 2021, a significant increase in E. coli resistance was observed (p < 0.005) for most antibiotics, except gentamicin, tobramycin, and cotrimoxazole, which showed a decreasing trend. Resistance rates increased from 28 to 41% for 3rd generation cephalosporins, 38 to 65% for amoxicillin + clavulanic acid and 51 to 56% for quinolones. Multidrug-resistant bacteria accounted for 28.47% (n = 2220) with a predominance of extended spectrum beta lactamases ESBL 24.34% (n = 1898). This study highlights a concerning resistance profile of Escherichia coli to commonly used antibiotics, particularly beta-lactams, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides. Over time, a marked increase in multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains has also been observed, along with an alarming rise in carbapenem resistance. These findings underscore the urgent need to strengthen antibiotic stewardship policies, implement regular surveillance of resistance profiles, and reinforce infection prevention and control measures.Keywords: Escherichia coli, bacterial resistance, Dakar.
Ndoye et al. (Sat,) studied this question.