TITLE:
Digestive Carriage of Esbl and Shiga-Like Producing Enterobacteriaceae in Outpatients at Saint Jean de Dieu Hospital of Afagnan in Southern Togo
AUTHORS:
Cyriaque Comlan Degbey, Rosny Sergyne Nondomê Kouke, Bawa Boya, Haziz Sina, Nicolas Aïkou, Lamine Saïd Baba-Moussa
KEYWORDS:
Enterobacteriaceae, Digestive Carriage, ESBL, Resistance to Antibiotics
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.15 No.9,
September
4,
2025
ABSTRACT: The emergence and spread of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae is a significant public health problem. The digestive carriage of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae largely contributes to their diffusion and dissemination within our communities and hospitals. This work aimed to study the digestive carriage of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in outpatients at Saint Jean de Dieu Hospital in Afagnan in southern Togo. This analytical descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 62 stool samples from an outpatient setting. The bacteria were isolated, identified, and an antibiogram was obtained by standard microbiological techniques, followed by molecular characterization in the search for resistance and virulence genes. The results show a predominance of Escherichia coli (66.1%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (14.5%) and Klebsiella oxytoca (9.7%). The strains were resistant to amoxicillin (100%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (61.3%), and amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (40%). Conventional PCR shows that 12.9% of Enterobacteriaceae isolates possessed blaTEM, blaSHV, and blaCTX-M genes. Enterobacteriaceae possessed the blaCTX-M gene (11.3%), the blaTEM gene (12.9%), and the blaSHV gene (4.8%). None of the Enterobacteriaceae isolates possessed the stx1 virulence gene. This kind of study is one of the first of this type in southern Togo. It provides evidence on the diffusion and dissemination of resistance genes within the community and their possible importation into healthcare settings.