Detail Cantuman

Abstract: Multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria are becoming a worldwide problem due to limited
options for treatment. Moreover, patients infected by MDR with highly virulent accessories are
worsening the symptoms, even to the point of causing death. In this study, we isolated bacteria from
14 inanimate surfaces that could potentially be reservoirs for the spread of bacterial infections in
the medical university. Blood agar media was used for bacterial isolation. The bacterial colony that
showed hemolytic activities on each surface was tested for antimicrobial susceptibility against eight
different antibiotics. We found that MDR bacterium, namely TB1, which was isolated from a toilet
bowl, was non-susceptible to ampicillin, imipenem, chloramphenicol, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid,
gentamicin, and tetracycline. Another MDR bacterium isolated from the mobile phone screen of security
officers, namely HSO, was resistant to chloramphenicol, gentamicin, tetracycline, and cefixime.
An in vivo virulence test of bacterial isolates used Omphisa fuscidentalis larvae as an alternative to
Galleria mellonella larvae for the infection model. A virulence test of TB1 in O. fuscidentalis larvae
revealed 20% survival in the bacterial density of 104 and 105 CFU/larvae; and 0% survival in the
bacterial density of 106 CFU/larvae at 24 h after injection. Bacterial identification was performed
for TB1 as a potential virulent isolate. Bacterial identification using partial 16s rRNA gene showed
that TB1 exhibited 99.84% identity to Escherichia fergusonii 2611. This study concludes that TB1 is a
potentially virulent MDR E. fergusonii isolated from toilet bowls at a medical university.
Keywords: multi-drug resistant; virulent bacteria; Escherichia fergusonii; Omphisa fuscidentalis;
Galleria mellonella