ABSTRACT

Gastroenteritis is an infection of the gut (intestines) with viruses, bacteria, or other microbes. You may develop diarrhea, sickness (vomiting), tummy (abdominal) pain and other symptoms. This study evaluated the incidence of gastroenteritis in three (3) different clinics in Umuahia. A total of 48 faecal specimens were collected using sterile plastic bottles with air-tight screw cap tops from 3 different hospitals within Umuahia. Salmonella sp, Shigella sp, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with a percentage occurrence of 37.5%, 29.2%, 20.8%, and 12.5% respectively, were found to cause gastroenteritis .It was observed that Abia state specialist has the highest rate of bacterial load with a percentage distribution of 22(45.8%) followed by Amara-Jane hospital with percentage distribution of 17(35.4%), whereas, Mouau clinic has the least bacterial load with a percentage distribution of 9(18.8%). Out of 48 samples, 4 clinical Bacteria were isolated and tested for antibiotics susceptibility, Ciprofloxacin was the most effective antimicrobial agent with 45 representing (93.8%) susceptibility followed by Gentamicin with 40 representing (83.3%), Levofloxacin37(77.1%), Ampiclox 22(45.8%) ,Norfloxacin 18(37.5%) and Amoxil17(35.4%), Streptomycin 13(27.1%),  whereas Chloramphenicol  has the least percentage susceptibility of 6 representing (12.5%). It was observed that the bacterial isolates showed high rate of resistance Chloramphenicol with the percentage resistance of 42(87.5%), followed by Erythromycin 39(81.3%), Rifampicin 36(75.0%), then Streptomycin 35(72.9%), Amoxil 31(64.6%), Norfloxacin 30(62.5%) and moderately resistant to Ampiclox26(45.8%), whereas Ciprofloxacin  has the least percentage resistance of 3 representing (6.3%). This emphasizes the need for continuous evaluation of the quality of common antibiotics, prudent drug prescription and judicious use of these antibiotics in gastroenteritis management.