Bacteriological analysis, antimicrobial susceptibility and detection of 16S rRNA gene of Helicobacter pylori by PCR in drinking water samples of earthquake affected areas and other parts of Pakistan

In Pakistan, clean drinking water is not available to most of the population. Main source of drinking water in Hazara, Azad Jammu and Kashmir-Pakistan is underground and spring water, due to earthquake water reservoirs in these areas were immensely contaminated. Moreover, drinking water treatment and proper sanitary facilities were also lacking. This study was conducted to analyze the quality of drinking water available in most of the cities of Pakistan including earthquake hit areas. For this purpose, 112 water samples were collected and analyzed by membrane filtration method. Microbial isolates were identified using QTS-10 and biochemical tests. Almost all samples were found to be contaminated but in earthquake affected areas quality of drinking water was substandard than other areas of Pakistan. Results revealed the detection of following bacterial pathogens among the water samples: Enterobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., Stenotrophomonas sp., Salmonella sp., Proteus sp., Edwardsiella tarda, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumanii, Aeromonas hydrophila, Citrobacter freundii, Shigella dysenteriae, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus sp. and Streptococcus sp. Furthermore, these bacterial isolates were found to be resistant to ampicillin (32.1%), amoxicillin (30.4%), sulphometoxazole (20.5%) and cefaclor (31.3%). All drinking water samples were analyzed for 16S rRNA gene of Helicobacter pylori by using PCR, however no positive result was found in these samples. Based on our results it is suggested that authorities should pay attention to supply safe water and proper sanitary facilities to avoid epidemics of infectious diseases in future.