Norfloxacin resistance in Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates from Swedish patients

Abstract

This study focused on the frequency of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli strains resistant to norfloxacin. Included were 1659 consecutive stool specimens isolated between 1992 and 1995, from as many Swedish patients with diarrhoea. The patients were divided with regard to place of infection and age. All strains were tested for susceptibility to norfloxacin by means of disc diffusion test on blood-agar plates. Norfloxacin-resistant strains (n = 310) were furthermore tested for resistance to doxycycline and erythromycin. The Etest was used for determination of MIC values of doxycyclin, erythromycin and norfloxacin of 81 of the strains. C. jejuni and C. coli isolations resistant to norfloxacin were significantly more frequent among patients infected abroad, especially in Spain and Thailand, compared with those infected in Sweden, adults more often than children. The number of resistant strains showed a yearly increase, and the difference between children and adults was equalized in 1995. The MIC50 and MIC90 values for doxycycline and erythromycin have increased markedly through the 4 years studied. This study shows that norfloxacin, because of increased resistance, may have limited utility for treatment of gastrointestinal infections caused by C. jejuni and C. coli.

Activities of Telithromycin, Erythromycin, Fluoroquinolones, and Doxycycline against Campylobacter Strains Isolated from Finnish Subjects

“…Compared to several other studies (16,18,19), our study showed a tetracycline agent to have a high activity against Campylobacter isolates of domestic origin. However, of the isolates with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, 54% were inhibited only by high concentrations of doxycycline.…”

“…In Finland, susceptibility to fluoroquinolones among domestic Campylobacter isolates has remained consistently good (13), as confirmed in the present study. Similarly, in some other countries (Australia and Sweden), fluoroquinolone resistance among domestically acquired campylobacter infections is rare (18,20). This may be explained in some cases by the lack of fluoroquinolone use in food production animals (2,11,20).…”

Antimicrobial resistance of thermophilic Campylobacter

“…Intravenous aminoglycosides is the treatment of choice for serious Campylobacter bacteraemia and other systemic infections. However, increases in the occurrence of Campylobacter, causing infections in man, that are resistant to macrolides and fluoroquinolones, have been reported in several countries [13,16,24,45,46,52,55,57]. In these cases other antimicrobial agents may be used for treatment.…”

Antimicrobial-Resistant Campylobacter Species from Retail Raw Meats

“…Tetracycline, doxycycline, and chloramphenicol are sometimes listed as alternative drugs for treatment. However, an increasing number of Campylobacter species that exhibit decreased susceptibility to several of these drugs have been isolated from food and water sources as well as from clinical samples in Europe (9,14,15,18), Canada (5), and the United States (2,17).…”