Global surveillance of antibiotic sensitivity of Vibrio cholerae

Strains of Vibrio cholerae-1156 from various parts of the world-were examined by standardized antibiotic sensitivity tests in one centre, to determine the global incidence of antibiotic resistance in this organism and to assess the extent to which differences in methods of sensitivity testing might be responsible for discrepancies in the reported incidence of resistant strains. Of the strains examined, 1127 were fully sensitive to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, furazolidone, and three different sulphonamides, 27 showed stable and reproducible resistance to one or more of these agents, and 2 proved to contain a minority of cells with unstable, presumably plasmid-borne, resistance to chloram-phenicol. Unstable resistance to antibiotics may be common in V. cholerae but rarely recognized, and may account for some of the discrepancies in the reported incidence of resistant strains.