Serogroup frequency and drug sensitivity of Shigella strains encountered at the University Hospital of the West Indies
Bodonaik, N.C.; Chen, W.N.
West Indian Medical Journal 35(3): 194-196
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0043-3144 PMID: 3535257 Document Number: 272974
Serogroup frequency and sensitivity to four standard drugs of Shigella strains isolated at the University Hospital in the two years between July, 1983 and June, 1985 were studied. Three hundred and thirty-four strains were isolated during this period of which 217 (65%) were S. flexneri and 117 (35%) S. sonnei. There were no isolates of Shigella dysenteriae or S. boydii. Three hundred and thirty of the strains (98.8%) were susceptible to ampicillin, 328 (98.2%) to tetracycline, 330 (98.8%) to cotrimoxazole, 332 (99.4%) to chloramphenicol and 325 (97.3%) to all four drugs. Of the nine resistant strains, six were resistant to one drug (two to ampicillin, three to tetracycline and one to cotrimoxazole), one was resistant to two drugs (tetracycline and cotrimoxazole) and two strains were resistant to all four drugs. Although there are reports of a very high incidence of drug resistance among Shigellae in other parts of the world, currently it is not a major problem in Jamaica. Ampicillin and tetracycline still remain the drugs of first choice in the treatment of Shigellosis in our environment. The occurrence of a few strains resistant to all four drugs, however, is a cause for concern. Patients infected with such strains should be carefully monitored to prevent dissemination of the strains in the community. Nalidixic acid is described as an alternative agent in the treatmentof infections due to such strains.