A study on the antibiotic resistance of Shigella
Abstract
Background The hospital morbidity caused by Shigella or dysen-tery ranges between 0.3 to 2.9%. Irrational use of antibiotics causes
a persistent diarrhea and may lead to drug resistance.
Objectives With various kinds of antibiotics available in Indone-
sia at the moment, this study aimed to anticipate the kinds of anti-
biotics appropriate for shigellosis and to evaluate the clinical spec-
trum of dysentery in children in Indonesia.
Method The study involved 50 children diagnosed with dysentery
or dysentery-like syndrome, aged 1 to 12 years, who came to four
different hospitals in Jakarta, from November 2001 to April 2002.
Parents were asked for their consent. Interviewers recorded de-
tails of the children’s history of illness and the physical examina-
tions. Stool culture and resistance tests were done.
Results Fifty dysentery cases, comprising 30 males and 20 fe-
males, 98% aged from 1 to 5 years, came to the four hospitals
during the study period. Only 24 cases had positive Shigella cul-
tures, of which 87% were Shigella flexneri and 17% were Shigella
sonnei. The clinical manifestations of shigellosis were bloody stools
(83%), mucus in the stool (75%), and watery diarrhea (96%). Fe-
ver and tenesmus were absent in 67% and 92% of subjects, re-
spectively. Almost 87% of shigellosis cases were resistant to
cotrimoxazole; all were sensitive to colistin and most were sensi-
tive to nalidixic acid.
Conclusion This data suggests that colistin and nalidixic acid are
drugs of choice for dysentery syndrome. The clinical manifesta-
tion of dysentery is not always accompanied by bloody stools but
mostly incorporates watery diarrhea and mucus in the stool
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Accepted 2016-10-05
Published 2016-10-10