Prevalence and antibiogram profile of bacteria associated with throat infections in Akure metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria

Background:Throat infections are one of the commonest causes for visits to health care physicians. It was hypothesized that some rare Gram negative bacteria could be implicated in respiratory infections. The molecular dynamics of clinically-significant Gram negative bacteria associated with lower respiratory tract infections was also ascertained. This study investigated the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacteria associated with throat infections in a hospital setting. Methods: Two hundred and five (205) throat swabs were collected from patients at the study area. Bacterial isolates were identified based on their morphological and biochemical profile. The molecular identity of selected multidrug resistant bacterial isolates was conducted via DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, sequencing and genome blasting. Antibiotic susceptibility of the test bacterial isolates was evaluated using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Results: The highest frequency of carriers of throat pathogens was obtained among male patients between ages 31 and 40 years. Streptococcus pneumoniae (28%)had the highest prevalence while Escherichia coli (4%) had the least. One of the enumerated Enterobacter species from the samples was further identified via 16S ribosomal ribose-nucleic acid (rRNA) as Enterobacter bugandensis MH712497.1. Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes were resistant to gentamicin whilst both Gram-negative bacteria were susceptible to ciprofloxacin at 21.00±0.58mm and 20.00±0.58 mm respectively.Conclusion: This study deduced that Streptococcus species is most implicated bacteria responsible for throat infections in clinical setting. Molecularly-identified Enterobacter bugandensis from throat infections in this study has recently being implicated as a fresh enterobacteria associated with severe clinically-significant infection.