The gut microbiome is said to be associated with human health and the understanding of bacteria colonization of the gut ecosystem is crucial to our knowledge on disease development in humans. This study was conducted to establish the earliest bacteria that colonize the intestinal colon of neonates born in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) Irrua, Edo State Nigeria and to determine the antibiogram of these isolates. Stool samples were collected at time interval of less than 10 hrs, greater than 10 hrs and after 18 hrs. The samples were processed using standard microbiological methods and Antibiotic susceptibility was done by disc diffusion method. The results revealed that of the 77 isolates, the frequencies of occurrence were Escherichia coli 51 (67.5%), Proteus mirabilis 13 (16.9%), Enterobacter aerogens. 8 (9.1%), Citrobacter freundii 3 (3.9%) and Serratia marcescens 2 (2.6%). Escherichia coli was most prevalent accounting for 67.5% of the isolates. The results also showed statistically that comparing the mode of delivery to the mode of nutrition, the mode of delivery (P<0.05) determines the colonization pattern of the earliest bacteria in the intestinal colon of neonates but the mode of nutrition (P>0.05) does not. The results also show that the meconium is sterile and colonization only begins from 10 hours after birth.%). All isolates from the different neonatal stool samples showed different susceptibility patterns to the antibiotics used. Escherichia coli was most resistant to Gentamycin, Proteus mirabilis was most resistant to Cloxacillin, Enterobacter aerogens and Citrobacter freundii to Ofloxacin, and Serratia marcescens was most resistant to Ceftazidime.
| Published in | American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 14, Issue 5) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13 |
| Page(s) | 136-142 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Meconiun, Neonates, Earliest Culturable Bacteria, Intestinal Colon
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APA Style
Ikechukwu, E. F., Noel, I., Johnson, I. N., Akinagu, O. H., Ehikioya, O. J., et al. (2026). Earliest Culturable Bacteria to Colonize the Intestinal Colon of Neonates Born in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria. American Journal of Life Sciences, 14(5), 136-142. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13
ACS Style
Ikechukwu, E. F.; Noel, I.; Johnson, I. N.; Akinagu, O. H.; Ehikioya, O. J., et al. Earliest Culturable Bacteria to Colonize the Intestinal Colon of Neonates Born in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria. Am. J. Life Sci. 2026, 14(5), 136-142. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13
AMA Style
Ikechukwu EF, Noel I, Johnson IN, Akinagu OH, Ehikioya OJ, et al. Earliest Culturable Bacteria to Colonize the Intestinal Colon of Neonates Born in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria. Am J Life Sci. 2026;14(5):136-142. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13,
author = {Esumeh Frederich Ikechukwu and Igbinosa Noel and Inyang Nyoho Johnson and Obiazi Helen Akinagu and Ofanson Julius Ehikioya and Ikuejamofo Seun Augustine},
title = {Earliest Culturable Bacteria to Colonize the Intestinal Colon of Neonates Born in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria},
journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences},
volume = {14},
number = {5},
pages = {136-142},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20261405.13},
abstract = {The gut microbiome is said to be associated with human health and the understanding of bacteria colonization of the gut ecosystem is crucial to our knowledge on disease development in humans. This study was conducted to establish the earliest bacteria that colonize the intestinal colon of neonates born in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) Irrua, Edo State Nigeria and to determine the antibiogram of these isolates. Stool samples were collected at time interval of less than 10 hrs, greater than 10 hrs and after 18 hrs. The samples were processed using standard microbiological methods and Antibiotic susceptibility was done by disc diffusion method. The results revealed that of the 77 isolates, the frequencies of occurrence were Escherichia coli 51 (67.5%), Proteus mirabilis 13 (16.9%), Enterobacter aerogens. 8 (9.1%), Citrobacter freundii 3 (3.9%) and Serratia marcescens 2 (2.6%). Escherichia coli was most prevalent accounting for 67.5% of the isolates. The results also showed statistically that comparing the mode of delivery to the mode of nutrition, the mode of delivery (P0.05) does not. The results also show that the meconium is sterile and colonization only begins from 10 hours after birth.%). All isolates from the different neonatal stool samples showed different susceptibility patterns to the antibiotics used. Escherichia coli was most resistant to Gentamycin, Proteus mirabilis was most resistant to Cloxacillin, Enterobacter aerogens and Citrobacter freundii to Ofloxacin, and Serratia marcescens was most resistant to Ceftazidime.},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Earliest Culturable Bacteria to Colonize the Intestinal Colon of Neonates Born in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria AU - Esumeh Frederich Ikechukwu AU - Igbinosa Noel AU - Inyang Nyoho Johnson AU - Obiazi Helen Akinagu AU - Ofanson Julius Ehikioya AU - Ikuejamofo Seun Augustine Y1 - 2026/10/29 PY - 2026 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13 T2 - American Journal of Life Sciences JF - American Journal of Life Sciences JO - American Journal of Life Sciences SP - 136 EP - 142 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5737 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20261405.13 AB - The gut microbiome is said to be associated with human health and the understanding of bacteria colonization of the gut ecosystem is crucial to our knowledge on disease development in humans. This study was conducted to establish the earliest bacteria that colonize the intestinal colon of neonates born in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) Irrua, Edo State Nigeria and to determine the antibiogram of these isolates. Stool samples were collected at time interval of less than 10 hrs, greater than 10 hrs and after 18 hrs. The samples were processed using standard microbiological methods and Antibiotic susceptibility was done by disc diffusion method. The results revealed that of the 77 isolates, the frequencies of occurrence were Escherichia coli 51 (67.5%), Proteus mirabilis 13 (16.9%), Enterobacter aerogens. 8 (9.1%), Citrobacter freundii 3 (3.9%) and Serratia marcescens 2 (2.6%). Escherichia coli was most prevalent accounting for 67.5% of the isolates. The results also showed statistically that comparing the mode of delivery to the mode of nutrition, the mode of delivery (P0.05) does not. The results also show that the meconium is sterile and colonization only begins from 10 hours after birth.%). All isolates from the different neonatal stool samples showed different susceptibility patterns to the antibiotics used. Escherichia coli was most resistant to Gentamycin, Proteus mirabilis was most resistant to Cloxacillin, Enterobacter aerogens and Citrobacter freundii to Ofloxacin, and Serratia marcescens was most resistant to Ceftazidime. VL - 14 IS - 5 ER -
Department of Microbiology, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria
Department of Microbiology, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria
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