Abstract

Antibiotics are a class of antimicrobials specifically used to combat bacterial infections. This study was aimed at antibiotic susceptibility profiling and determination of multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of bacteria isolated from soils of selected waste dump sites in Rivers State. Soil samples were collected from three dumpsites and three control locations for duration of twelve calendar months (May 2023 to April 2024). Bacteria were isolated, characterized and identified using standard microbiological techniques and antibiotic susceptibility tests were conducted on the isolates using the disk diffusion technique. The bacteria isolated were: Rhizobacter spp, Kluyvera spp, Escherichia coli, Chryseomonas spp, Klebsiella spp, Shigella spp, Salmonella spp, Psuedomonas spp, Vibrio spp, Cronobacter spp, Bacillus spp, Paenibacillus spp, Nesterenkonia spp, Rathayibacter spp, Sinomonas spp, Actinomyces spp, and Staphylococcus spp. The isolates exhibited high resistance to the antibiotics, showing multidrug resistance with multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index of 0.2 to 1.0. Highest resistance was exhibited by Rhizobacter spp and Chryseomonas spp. Highest MAR Index of 1.0 was observed in Rhizobacter spp, Klebsiella spp, Chryseomonas spp, Bacillus spp, Nesterenkonia spp, Sinomonas spp and Actinomyces spp. Lowest MAR Index of 0.2 was observed in Kluyvera spp. The most frequent MAR Index with 30.5 % prevalence was 0.8. This is an indication of overuse or inappropriate antibiotic use. The results of this study suggest that waste dump sites contain many bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. This is of public health concern. There is a global health challenge now as there is a wide emergence of multidrug resistance within populations of microorganisms. It is recommended that the Government/ Health ministry educate the populace about the possible risk of indiscriminate antibiotic use. Antibiogram should also be conducted regularly with wider variation of antibiotics tested till antibiotics that the bacteria would be highly susceptible to are discovered.