Bacterial Analysis and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Bacteria Found in Different Water Sources in Karachi

Authors

  • Sharmeen Amin
  • Farhan Essa Abdulla
  • Ghazala Usman

Abstract

Background:

In Pakistan, the bacteriological quality of drinking water is not closely monitored andprevalence of waterborne diseases due to the contamination of drinking water is among the most common problems faced in urban and rural areas of Pakistan. The bacteria inhabiting these water sources carry genes which render them resistant to many antimicrobials. These genes can be transmitted to other non-resistant bacteria as well making the diseases caused by them hard to treat.

Objective:

To test the isolated bacteria from collected drinking water samples for their antibiotic susceptibility profile for 14 commonly used antimicrobials.

Methods:

The study involves collection of 100 samples of drinking water from four water sources, namely boring water, tap water, filtered water and boiled water, randomly collected from different parts of Karachi using a sterile method. They were tested to determine the bacterial isolates present in them using the analytical profile indexing (API). The antimicrobial susceptibility profile of these bacteria was done using the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method.

Results:

It was estimated that Klebsiella is the most commonly found organism in the drinking water samples, followed by Pseudomonas and E.Coli, Staphylococcus Aureus being the least common. The isolates were found to be most resistant to Ampicillin (99%) and least resistant to Amikacin (1%) while they were found to be most sensitive to Amikacin (96%) and Imipenem (96%).

Conclusion:

Better quality and standards of drinking water are necessary for healthy human life. Filtration and boiling of tap and boring water decreases the number of pathogens present in it making it better and healthier for human consumption.

Key Words:

Frequency, Bacteriological Analysis, Antimicrobial Susceptibility, Drinking Water.

Additional Files

Published

2024-05-17

How to Cite

1.
Sharmeen Amin, Farhan Essa Abdulla, Ghazala Usman. Bacterial Analysis and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Bacteria Found in Different Water Sources in Karachi. PJMD [Internet]. 2024 May 17 [cited 2024 Oct. 6];3(3). Available from: https://ojs.zu.edu.pk/pjmd/article/view/2885