Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistant Gram Negative Bacteria in the Street Vended Foods of Bangladesh: An Overview

Abstract

Background: Street vended foods contaminated with antibiotic resistant bacteria poses a great public health concern in developing countries like Bangladesh as foodborne diseases caused by such bacteria are difficult and sometimes impossible to treat. The aim of this review is to investigate the present scenario of the antibiotic resistance status of five selected Gram negative bacteria isolated from a variety of street vended foods of Bangladesh. Methodology: A methodical literature search was performed to identify relevant studies on Google Scholar, Science Direct and Research Gate using suitable keywords arranged in different manners to produce a meaningful search string. Weighted mean resistance was calculated to evaluate the resistance status from 20 studies selected through the PRISMA procedure. Results: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Vibrio spp.  showed relatively low resistance towards imipenem and gentamicin, whereas the antibiotics of penicillins and macrolides classes listed in this review were mostly ineffective. Relatively high resistance was found against tetracycline, vancomycin, and rifampicin. Conclusion: A considerable number of bacterial isolates present in the SVF are resistant to most of the commonly used antibiotics. Therefore, there is an urgent need for public awareness along with a robust national action plan to combat antibiotic resistance, before the situation worsens.