Increasing antimicrobial resistance of campylobacter jejuni isolated from paediatric diarrhea cases in a tertiary care hospital of new delhi, India.

INTRODUCTION The resistance to the clinically important antimicrobial agents, particularly the fluoroquinolones and the macrolides, is increasing among the Campylobacter isolates. Only limited data is available regarding the changing antimicrobial resistance pattern in the Indian scenario. METHODOLOGY Three hundred fifty cases (ages ≤12years) of acute diarrhoea, who were admitted to a tertiary-care hospital, were investigated for Campylobacter spp. The antimicrobial susceptibilities of all the C. jejuni isolates were assessed by the disk diffusion method according to the CLSI guidelines. RESULTS A total of 36 isolates of C. jejuni were tested for their antimicrobial susceptibilities. A high degree of resistance to the fluoroquinolones (100% to Nalidixic acid and 86.66% to Ciprofloxacin) was detected in the Campylobacter isolates. The frequency of resistance against Tetracycline was 33.33% and that against Erythromycin was 22.2%. Fifteen (41.66%) isolates were multiresistant, being resistant to 3 or more antimicrobial agents. CONCLUSIONS An increased resistance to the quinolones and the macrolides and multidrug resistance warrant a reconsideration of their use as the drugs of choice in patients with severe gastroenteritis when Campylobacter is the presumed cause.