Emergence of Third Generation Cephalosporin Resistant Escherichia coli in Infants: Retrospective Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital in South India

Aim: This study was aimed to evaluate the emergence of third generation cephalosporin resistant Escherichia coli isolated from the culture of various biological fluids of infants in a tertiary care hospital. Background: Resistance to commonly used antibiotics is consistently increasing during the last decades and it was found varying with time and geographical location. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of third generation cephalosporin sensitivity pattern of E. coli isolated from urine, stool, and throat swab culture from laboratory records. Methods: The retrospective study included the laboratory report of antibiotic sensitivity conducted on infants specimens during the period of 2 years. Third generation cephalosporin sensitivity patterns of E. coli isolated from urine, stool, and throat swab culture were collected and data were statistically analyzed. Results: Reports of 351 samples with positive E. coli were included in the study. More samples were analyzed from infants above 6 months of age with female dominance (184/351). Among the specimens tested, urine samples were highest 128/351 (35.0%). Cephalosporin resistant strain was found in 243/351 samples (69.2%) (p=0.0463) with 218/243 (89.7%) isolated from infants above 6 months of age and 25/243 (10.2%) were from infants below 6 months of age (p=0.038). The frequency of cephalosporin resistant E. coli in urine specimens of male and female infants was significant (p=0.0001). Conclusion: Third generation cephalosporin resistant E. coli strain was found in 69.2% of isolates and more in urine samples from female infants above 6 months of age. The clinicians should consider the emergence of cephalosporin resistant E. coli while selecting antibiotics as empirical treatment.