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Macrolide-resistant Shigella sonnei

Leyla Boumghar-Bourtchai1, Patricia Mariani-Kurkdjian, Edouard Bingen

  • 1Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Côte de Nacre, Caen, France.

Emerging Infectious Diseases
|August 6, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Shigella sonnei UCN59 exhibited resistance to azithromycin due to the mph(A) gene. This macrolide resistance mechanism may reduce azithromycin

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Antimicrobial Resistance

Background:

  • Shigellosis is a bacterial infection that can be treated with azithromycin.
  • Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern in treating bacterial infections.

Observation:

  • A Shigella sonnei isolate, UCN59, was identified during a 2007 outbreak.
  • This isolate showed significant resistance to azithromycin, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 64 mg/L.

Findings:

  • The UCN59 isolate harbored a plasmid carrying the mph(A) gene.
  • The mph(A) gene encodes a macrolide 2'-phosphotransferase, an enzyme that inactivates macrolide antibiotics.
  • This genetic mechanism confers azithromycin resistance in Shigella sonnei.

Implications:

  • The emergence and spread of the mph(A) gene in Shigella sonnei could compromise the efficacy of azithromycin for treating shigellosis.
  • This finding highlights the need for ongoing surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens.
  • Alternative treatment strategies may be required for shigellosis cases infected with resistant strains.

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