Prevalence of Fecal Carriage of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae Among School Children in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Background: Fecal carriage of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria is a potential risk for transmission and infection. Genotypes known to be associated with ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae are cefotaximases (CTX-M), temoniera (TEM), and sulfhydryl variable (SHV). Unfortunately, data on ESBL prevalence in Indonesia, especially in South Sulawesi, is still limited, so further research on the community is needed. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of fecal carriage of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae among school children in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Methods: The research was conducted among school-children in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Detection of ESBL gene using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. A total of 245 stool samples were collected. Results: The prevalence of fecal carriage of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae among school children was 76.7% (188/245). Genotyping of EBSL-producing Enterobacteriaceae encoding genes using PCR found that TEM genes, 92.6% (174/188), were higher than SHV genes, 38.8% (73/188) and CTX-M genes, 4.3% (8/188). It was also revealed a combination of ESBL-producing genes of Enterobacteriaceae. The most combination genes were found in TEM + SHV genes, including 55 of 188 (29.26%). Conclusions: The presence of ESBL gene careers suggests that antibiotic resistance has spread in the community, which needs to be of concern since it can be an ESBL gene reservoir that can be transmitted to many pathogenic bacteria.