Characteristics of Virulence Factors and Prevalence of Virulence Markers in Resistant Escherichia coli from Patients with Gut and Urinary Infections in Lafia, Nigeria

The spread and transfer of resistant pathogens is on the increase worldwide and it is presently a cause of concern for health facilities, health organizations and governments. Pathogenicity is a factor dependent on the virulence of the microorganisms. The study aimed at determining the virulence markers and factors in multidrug resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli isolated from patients with urinary tract and gastrointestinal tract infections in Lafia, Nigeria. Collection of urine and stool samples (150 each) from patients was carried out, and bacteria isolated from the samples using the spread plate technique. Antibiotic susceptibility test was determined to identify resistant E. coli isolates after which, virulence factors and genes conferring virulence evaluated. The prevalence of E. coli was 33.3% and 35.3% in urine and stool respectively with 42 of the isolates being MDR. All the isolates showed cell surface hydrophobicity on ammonia sulfate molarity at >1.5, and all possessed capacity to produce hemolysin and pyrogen, though isolate U6 produced the highest amount of hemolysin and the other isolates mostly produced reasonable amount of pyrogen. Isolate U19 from urine sample and isolates S6, S10, S11, and S17 from stool samples all had between 81 and 100 serum resistance survival percentages, while 13 of the isolates had no serum resistance capabilities. Virulence conferring genes present in the isolates include fimH, pap, stb, cs31a, vt2, east1. Most of the resistant isolates have more than one virulence marker that is a means of producing an effective pathogenesis.