title: Surveillance for antimicrobial resistance profiles among Shigella species isolated from a semirural community in the northern administrative area of santiago, chile.
abstract: Variations in antibiotic resistance patterns were studied among 178 Shigella strains isolated from 1997 to 2001 in children less than five years of age with acute diarrhea from Colina, a semi-rural community in Santiago, Chile. The minimal inhibitory concentration of several commonly used antibiotics was determined by the agar dilution method. Shigella strains showed high rates of resistance to ampicillin (82%), cotrimoxazole (65%), tetracycline (53%), and chloramphenicol (49%). Furthermore, 51% of the strains showed resistance patterns to multiple antibiotics. Only 9% of the strains were resistant to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and no resistance was observed to ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, or cefotaxime. Continuous monitoring of resistance patterns in Shigella is essential for establishing and updating guidelines for antibiotic treatment in shigellosis.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Microbiología, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Noelia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fullá
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Durán
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lagos
authors.forename: Myron M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012424:Rural Population; D012760:Shigella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013045:Species Specificity