DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2023.v11i12.025

Pages: 2153-2158

Blood stream infections are commonly associated with prolonged hospitalization of critically ill patients. Most of the cases are infamously associated with members of Enterobacteriaceae family which is also responsible for typhoid fever endemic in Nigeria. In this study, blood samples collected through vein puncture, were obtained from 120 subjects at three (3) different laboratories within Abakaliki metropolis, Ebonyi state. They were screened for typhoid using a widal test kit. Samples with significant titre values were inoculated into Brain heart infusion broth. The broth cultures were incubated for 48 hours at 37oC with intermittent mixing; subcultured onto xylose lysine deoxycholate agar, and incubated under the same condition. The isolates were identified using serological and biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests of the isolates involved the use of Kirby-Bauer method. The results showed that 49 out of 120 patients recorded a significant titre value. Out of 49 patients, bacteremia associated with Enterobacteriaceae was reported in five male patients (20.8%) and nine female patients (36%). Among the bacterial isolates belonging to Enterobacteriaceae, Proteus vulgaris had the highest prevalence (42.9%), followed by S. typhi (25.4%), then S. enteritidis (14.3%), while the least were S. typhimurium, S. paratyphi A, and S. paratyphi B (7.1% each). Salmonella species were sensitive to all the antibiotics tested, whereas P. vulgaris showed resistance to nalidixic acid, ceporex, and ampicillin. For proper diagnosis of typhoid fever, standard culture methods and antibiotic susceptibility test are recommended as a routine laboratory practice in addition to widal test. The result will guide medical treatment and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance.