Received: June 2, 2006.

Accepted: March 16, 2007.

Abstract published online: March 23, 2007.

Full paper published online: May 31, 2007.

ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS AND ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF ENTEROBACTERIACEAE ISOLATED FROM ESTUARINE WATERS OF SÃO VICENTE, SÃO PAULO STATE, BRAZIL

LOURENÇO N. G. G. S. (1), TAKAHASHI C. K. (1), LOPES T. F. (2),

LOPES C. A. M. (3)

(1) São Paulo State University, UNESP, São Vicente, São Paulo State, Brazil; (2) Santa Cecília University, Santos, São Paulo State, Brazil; (3) Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Botucatu Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil.

ABSTRACT: Diseases transmitted by water consists a serious public health problem and enterobacteria are the main group of microorganisms responsible for outbreaks in humans. Such pathogenic bacteria proliferate in water polluted by domestic and industrial sewage and reach the population through seawater contact. The aim of the present work was to study environmental parameters as well as to identify Enterobacteriaceae species and their antimicrobial susceptibility in water samples collected from the estuarine area of São Vicente city (São Paulo State, Brazil). Strains were identified by using traditional biochemical tests described in literature and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were carried out using the disk diffusion method. Out of 26 samples, Escherichia coli was the most frequent species (40.1%), followed by Citrobacter, Enterobacter and Klebsiella. The most effective drugs against the tested microorganisms were gentamycin, netilmicin, ciprofloxacin and cefepime. Since these bacteria are commonly found in seashore contaminated by sewage effluents, it can be concluded that estuarine waters of São Vicente are polluted and potentially capable of causing diseases and spreading pathogenic bacteria to human communities.

KEY WORDS: estuarine water, environmental parameters, Enterobacteriaceae, antimicrobial susceptibility.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: There is no conflict.

FINANCIAL SOURCE: CNPq/PIBIC.

CORRESPONDENCE TO:

CARLOS ALBERTO DE MAGALHÃES LOPES, Departamento de Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Biociências, UNESP, Campus de Botucatu, 18618-000, Botucatu, SP, Brasil. Email: lopescam@ibb.unesp.br.