Prevalence of β-Lactamase Production among Pathogenic Bacteria Isolated from Surgical Site and Wound Infection amoung Patients Admitted in some selected Hospitals in Sokoto Metropolis, Nigeria

Antimicrobial resistance among pathogenic bacteria is increasing worldwide especially against ？-lactam drugs, due to the production of ？-lactamase enzymes which destroy the ？-lactam ring of these antibiotics, thus preventing the action of penicillin binding proteins (PBPs). The prevalence of β-lactamase producing bacteria among patients admitted in three different hospitals were carried out in this study. The results of this study shows that out of one hundred and fifty one isolates obtained in three different hospitals in Sokoto metropolis, only 82 (54.0%) were resistant to the antibiotics tested. These include 42 (51.2%) were isolated in Usmanu Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital (UDUT), 26 (31.7%) were isolated from Specialist Hospital Sokoto (S.H.S) and 14 (17.1%) were isolated from Maryam Abatcha Women and Children Hospital (MAWCH) which has the least number of occurrence of the resistant isolates. β-lactamase test was carried out on the resistant isolates show s that out of the 82 isolates found resistant to the antibiotics tested, about 60 (73.2%) were β- lactamase positive and the remaining 22 (26.8%) were β-lactamase negative. Staphylococcus aureus has the highest resistant bacteria producing β-lactamase enzyme with 22 isolates, followed by Proteus mirabilis with 10 isolates. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i3.11067 International Journal of Environment Vol.3(3) 2014: 89-112