Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns of Neisseria Meningitides Isolates from Asymptomatic Carriers in Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Neisseria meningitides represents a pathogen of great public health importance in both developed and developing countries. Resistance to some antimicrobial agents used either for therapy of invasive infections or for prophylaxis of case contacts has long been recognized. However, there is no data in relation with the circulating serotypes and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Neisseria meningitides in Ethiopia. Therefore; the aim of this study was to assess drug susceptibility patterns of Neisseria meningitides from asymptomatic carrier for all age group at Meskan and Mareko Districts, Gurage Zone, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State Ethiopia. A Cross-sectional survey of an age-stratified population in Meskan and Mareko Districts, Gurage Zone, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State in Ethiopia was conducted at AHRI as part of the MenAfricar project. A total of 4110 subjects were screened and from these 187 Neisseria meningitides positive isolates was selected for Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Antimicrobial susceptibility test was done on stored Neisseria meningitides isolates. The activities of ten antimicrobial agents used for treatment and prophylaxis of meningococcal disease were investigated. The AST was performed for Neisseria meningitides isolates according to the criteria of the CLSI guide line by disk diffusion method. Data were analysed by using SPSS version 20.0 software. From 187 isolates 8(4.28%) were serogroup X, 24(12.83%) were serogroup Y, 1(0.53%) were serogroup W135, and 154(82.35%) were non determinant (ND). Cotrimoxazol resistant were the highest accounting116(62%), Ciprofloxacine resistant were 112(60%), Cefotaxime resistant were 26(14%), Ceftriaxone resistant were 24(13%), Meropenenem resistantwere 21(11%), Minocycline resistant were 15(8%), Rifampine resistant were 149(7%), 10(5%) were resistant to Azithromycine, 7(4%) were resistant to Chloramphenicol and 6(3%) were resistant to Levofloxacin and 102(54.5%) isolates were resistance for more than one drug. So, it has beenconcluded that an antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Neisseria meningitides among asymptomatic carriers is high and continued surveillance of meningococci for antimicrobial resistance is necessary to monitor early detection of changes in susceptibility patterns that might affect recommendations for chemoprophylaxis and treatment