Assessment of antibiotic resistance profiles of Escherichia coli isolates in Dhaka city’s municipal water supply

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an alarming increasing trend at present leading to a range of health complications. This study focused on the analysis of municipal household water in the south and north of Dhaka, Bangladesh, with conclusive results of 81.16% fecal coliform contamination in the samples and confirmed 53.33% of Escherichia coli presence. According to the molecular evaluation, the most pervasive ESBL gene was found to be SHV at 32.35% and in terms of carbapenem resistance, both NDM and KPC had similar trends at roughly 3%. Upon screening the isolates, 49% of them were revealed to be multidrug resistant and 21% portrayed extensive drug resistance, leading to complexity of therapeutic choices. The results suggest the urgency of improvements for the water treatment system in Dhaka as well as standard monitoring regularly in order to mitigate the prevalence and consequences of antibiotic resistance rooting from mainstream water supply in the urban areas.