Background: Carbapenems remain the last therapeutic alternative, so the occurrence of carbapenem-resistant enterobacteria is a public health problem. This study aims to determine the sensitivity of Escherichia coli to carbapenems. Methods: The susceptibility to carbapenems of Escherichia coli isolated from childhood diarrhea at the Paul Moukambi Regional Hospital Center was evaluated by the diffusion method in an agar medium in accordance with the recommendations of the Antibiogram Committee of the French Society (CA-SFM) and by the determination of Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of imipenem according to the guidelines of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Confirmation was made by the Carbapenem Inactivation Method (CIM) test. The genotypic characterization was carried out by PCR by the search for CTX-M genes of group 1 and OXA.Results: The antibiogram shows resistance levels of 95%, 85%, 75% and 70% respectively for doripenem, ertapenem, imipenem and meropenem. The MIC results show that 35% of the strains are resistant to imipenem according to EUCAST while 85% are according to CLSI. The screening of the 20 strains by the CIM test reveals that 65% of strains produce carbapenemases. Molecular data reveal a prevalence of 25% of strains carrying carbapenem resistance genes, including 15% for the blaCTX-M gene and 10% for the blaOXA gene. Conclusion: The carbapenem resistance of Escherichia coli clinical isolates has been demonstrated for the first time in a rural area in Gabon.