Comparison of Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli Strains Isolated From Healthy Poultry and Swine Farm Workers Using Antibiotics in Korea

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to compare the antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli isolates from faecal samples of workers who often use antibiotics. METHODS: A total of 163E coli strains isolated from faecal samples of livestock workers (poultry and swine farm workers) and restaurant workers in the same regions as a control group were analyzed by agar disc diffusion to determine their susceptibility patterns to 16 antimicrobial agents. RESULTS: Most of the tested isolates showed high antimicrobial resistance to ampicillin and tetracycline. The isolates showed higher resistance to cephalothin than other antibiotics among the cephems. Among the aminoglycosides, the resistance to gentamicin and tobramycin occurred at higher frequencies compared with resistance to amikacin and netilmicin. Our data indicated that faecal E coli isolates of livestock workers showed higher antibiotic resistances than nonlivestock workers (restaurant workers), especially cephalothin, gentamicin, and tobramycin (p < 0.05). Moreover, the rates of the livestock workers in the association of multidrug resistance were also higher than the rates of the restaurant workers. CONCLUSION: This study implies that usage of antibiotics may contribute to the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in commensal E coli strains of humans.