Prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Escherichia coli isolated from Panipuri water samples in Akola city

Microbiology

Panipuri is one of the most popular street vended foods which is found everywhere in India. The present study attempts to assess the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Escherichia coli from the Panipuri water samples in the city of Akola, Maharashtra to understand the associated risks of consuming Panipuri from the street vendors. Fifty Panipuri samples were collected from different locations of the Akola city and analyzed for the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility. The prevalence of Escherichia coli isolated from Panipuri samples was found to be 88% as 44 out of 50 samples being positive for Escherichia coli. The number of samples showing MPN/100ml count below 10 were 27.27%. It was found that 59.09% of Panipuri water samples showed MPN/100ml count ranging from 11-100 and 13.63% samples showing MPN/100ml count above 100 . The isolates were tested against 7 different antibiotics. It was found out that the isolates showed 100% resistance against Ampicillin and Amoxyclav; high sensitivity was showed by isolated against Ciprofloxacin, Gentamicin and Chloramphenicol as 86%, 70%, and 70% respectively whereas Erythromycin and Tetracycline showed intermediate resistance with values of 23% and 9% respectively. The Escherichia coli found in these Panipuri water samples had many multi drug resistant strains. This study shows the potential risks of consuming such contaminated food which can cause severe illness.

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