Background/aim: In some clinical forms of human Campylobacter infections, such as prolonged diarrhea or associated with postinfections sequels, antibacterial treatment is necessary. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of thermophilic Campylobacter strains isolated from patients with diarrhea, as well as from patients with diarrhea followed by postinfections sequels, to drugs used in the therapy of enterocolitis, and to nalidixic acid used in laboratory identification and differentiation of thermophilic Campylobacter spp.
Methods: We studied the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of 131 Campylobacter strains isolated from patients with diarrhea (122 strains), diarrhea associated with rheumatic disorders (8 strains), and one strain isolated from a patient with Guillain-Barré Syndrome following Campylobacter enterocolitis. Susceptibility testing to erythromycin, gentamicin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid was performed by the agar dilution method.
Results: In the strains we investigated, resistance to gentamicin and chloramphenicol was not recorded, whereas a low rate of strains resistant to erythromycin (2.4%), a higher prevalence of strains resistant to tetracycline (9.9%), and a high level of resistance to ciprofloxacin (29.8%) and nalidixic acid (33.3%) were registered. All strains resistant to nalidixic acid were also resistant to ciprofloxacin. In addition, there was no difference in the occurrence of resistance between strains isolated from patients with diarrhea as compared to those isolated from patients with diarrhea followed by postinfection disorders.
Conclusion: The fact that the most of Campylobacter strains were sensitive to erythromycin and all to gentamicin, makes erythromycin an antibiotic of choice in the treatment of Campylobacter diarrhea and gentamicin when parenteral therapy should be administered. Resistance to tetracycline and, especially, ciprofloxacin, necessitates antibiotic susceptibility testing.