Antibiotic susceptibility patterns and plasmid profile of Helicobacter isolates from Nigeria

Antibiotic susceptibility testing and plasmid screening of 50 local isolates of Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter jejuni were done. All isolates were sensitive to ofloxacin but were resistant to ampicillin, cloxacillin, penicillin, streptomycin and aztreonam. A large number of isolates were sensitive to nalidixic acid (96%), ceftriaxone (96%) and chloramphenicol (86%). It is noteworthy that nine (18%) of the isolates were resistant to each of erythromycin, 15 (30%) were found to harbour plasmid DNA ranging in sizes from 2.0 to 45 megadalton. Resistance to tetracycline in one isolate was associated with the carriage of a 45-megadalton plasmid.