[Erythromycin and ciprofloxacin resistant Campylobacter jejuni]

Diarrhoea caused by Campylobacter is normally a self-limiting disease, but treatment with antibiotics may be indicated in very severe or complicated cases or in immunocompromised patients. This makes knowledge of the susceptibility of the Campylobacter to antibiotics important.

We examined retrospectively the in vitro susceptibility to erythromycin and ciprofloxacin of 296 C. jejuni strains isolated during the 1998-99 period. Particular attention was paid to the area in which the infection was acquired.

Ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates were found in 69 (23%) of the patients. Among 121 patients probably infected abroad, the rate of resistance was 46%, highest among patients infected in Southern Europe (59%), followed by Asian and African countries. Such resistance was not recorded among strains acquired in Norway. Only one isolate showed resistance to erythromycin. A few strains showed intermediate susceptibility to both antibiotics.

During the 1998-99 period, nearly one in four of all C. jejuni isolates in Sør-Trøndelag County, Norway, were resistant to ciprofloxacin. Resistant isolates were acquired outside Norway. Resistance of C. jejuni to erythromycin occurred very rarely. In Norway erythromycin should still be the drug of choice in campylobacteriosis in cases where antibiotic treatment is indicated.