Prevalence of antibiotic resistance among Egyptian Salmonella typhi strains

This report describes the resistance of 537 Salmonella typhi isolates identified in Egypt between 1990-1994. Results indicated a high isolation rate for multiple resistant S. typhi (> 71% of isolates collected in 1992-93), particularly to the three standard drug regimens of the clinically relevant antibiotics; ampicillin, chloramphenicol and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. This adds to the complexity and difficulty of treating infections caused by these organisms. Resistance of S. typhi was associated with a transferable 120 MD plasmid. The organism was sensitive to amikacin, aztreonam, cephalothin, ceftriaxone, gentamicin and nalidixic acid, suggesting the use of aztreonam and ceftriaxone as alternative therapeutic drugs for the treatment of multidrug-resistant S. typhi. These results may provide a clinically useful evaluation of the spread and acquisition of resistance among S. typhi strains in Egypt.