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A. K. Talukdar ¹, S. Deka ², Abul Hussain ³

Affiliations
1 Department of Chemistry, Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam, IN
2 Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwahati, Assam, IN
3 Department of Chemistry, Dudhnoi College, Goalpara-783 121, Assam, IN

Abstract

The water quality index (WQI) of Goalpara town and its surrounding areas in Assam was studied and evaluation made for suitability of water for drinking purposes. Twenty groundwater samples from tube wells and open wells were collected during the period from November, 2007 to March, 2008 and chemically analyzed. It was found that WQI of tube well is 5.5% excellent, 60% good, 14% poor and 20% very poor for drinking purpose, while for open wells it was 38% good, 31% poor and 31% very poor. Comparatively tube wells water is better than the open wells water. It was found that excessive application of fertilizers, pesticides and irregular uses are mostly responsible for degrading water quality, and to mitigate it proper treatment and measures have to be taken.

Keywords

Water Quality Index, Quality Groundwater, Drinking Water, Goalpara Town.

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D. Kalita ¹, S. Deka ², R. Sarma ³, E. S. Rasul ², B. Talukdar ², N. K. Hazarika ⁴

Affiliations
1 FAAMC, Barpeta-01, IN
2 FAAMC, IN
3 Dept. of Biotechnology, Research Project No HC 201, GMC, IN
4 Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati, IN

Abstract

Community-acquired Urinary Tract Infection (CA-UTI) is a very common condition and often treated by empirical antibiotic therapy. This has led to the problem of drug resistance in the community pathogens. As information on profile and antibiotic resistance, especially from rural areas is very hard to come by, this study was carried out on adult CA-UTI subjects presenting in a rural tertiary care teaching hospital of lower Assam. Outdoor patients were included and urine samples were tested by standard microbiological methods. Isolated organisms were processed for antibiotic susceptibility and MIC (selected cases). Out of 1436 samples 27.1% was found to have significant bacteriuria by single agents with more infection in female than in male. E coli was the predominant agent (62.2%) followed by Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus (CONS) at 11.8%, Klebsiella (11.3%) and Entercocci (6.3%). High prevalence of drug resistance amongst the isolates was observed, especially against common agent of empirical treatments like Ciprofloxacin, Amoxycalv etc. MIC level of Ciprofloxacin in E coli seemed to be rising and in few cases, level has reached beyond 32mcg/ml. This is alarming for a community pathogen from a rural area. Urgent necessity for an evidence based antibiotic policy cannot be ruled out.

Keywords

Urinary Tract Infection, UTI, Community-Acquired Urinary Tract Infection, Antibiotic Misuse, Drug Resistance, Multi Drug Resistance, Fluroquinolone Resistance, Ciprofloxacin Resistant E Coli, CA-UTI, MIC, E-Test.

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