Enterobacteriaceae Responsible For Acute Gastroenteritis in Children and Their Resistance to Systemic Antibiotics

AMR is recognized as a global threat to human health; however, information is limited in children with EDA in rural high Andean areas. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presence of enterobacteria causing acute gastroenteritis in children and their resistance to systemic antibiotics. A total of 314 fecal samples from children aged 1 to 5 years from 7 health micro-networks in Huancavelica, Perú were analyzed. The samples were cultured on selective agar to detect Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp, Shigella spp, confirmed by macro-microscopic characterization and biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility (four commonly used antibiotics) was determined by the Kirby-Bauer method. Strains of E. coli (47%), Salmonella spp (28%) and Shigella spp (26%), with high frequencies of these three bacteria being observed in children from micro-networks of Ascensión (55-44-50%), Izcuchaca (70-81-83%) and Health Centers of Huachocolpa (85-70-75%), Pucaccocha (71-57-35%), Izcuchaca (65-82-60%) and Pallalla (100-57-80%), with girls aged 3 to 5 years being more susceptible to EDA. Resistance to oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol, sulfamethoxazole-trimethropin, ranged from 48-97% and ceftriaxone was sensitive (40-51-53%) for the three bacteria, showing similar resistance and sensitivity behaviors among micro-networks, health centers and in three-year-old girls. Stool cultures from children with acute gastroenteritis from various rural hospitals in Huancavelica, Peru, confirm the predominant presence of multidrug-resistant E. coli, Salmonella spp., and Shigella spp.