Epidemiology and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Vibrio cholerae Associated with the 2017 Outbreak in Kasese district
Abstract Background Cholera has continued to be a global threat to public health and a key indicator of lack of social development in developing countries. This report summarizes findings from the epidemiologic investigation, which aimed at identifying the mode of transmission and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the Vibrio cholerae isolated in Kasese district, Uganda. Materials and methods This was a descriptive cross-sectional study to describe the epidemiology of the 2017 cholera outbreak in Kasese district. Rectal swabs were collected from 69 suspected case-persons and cultured on Thiosulphate-Citrate-Bile-Salts Sucrose (TCBS™; SEIKEN Japan) agar and incubated at 370C for 18-24 hours. The isolates were serotyped with polyvalent 01 antiserum and monovalent serotype Inaba and Ogawa antisera (Denka Seiken, Tokyo, Japan) to determine which serotype was responsible for the outbreak. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar. Results A total of 222 cases were recorded in the Kasese District outbreak between the month of September 2017 and January 2018 with the case fatality rate (CFR) of 1.4%. Children below the age of 14 years contributed the biggest proportion of the cases (70%) and out of these, 33% were aged below five years. Antibiotic susceptibility using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method showed 100% resistance to Ampicillin and over 50% were resistant to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole whereas gentamicin showed 100% susceptibility. The general trend also showed increased susceptibility to combination therapy as opposed to mono-therapy.