To shigellosis epidemicity in East-Slovakian region

A set of 2227 strains of Shigella sonnei isolated from dysentery patients in East-Slovakian region from 1975 through 1977 was analyzed by age and sex of patients, place and time of isolation, and by phage type, colicin type and antibiogram patterns of strains. The study showed that some phage types tended to occur in association with certain colicin types, the most common combination being that of phage type 75 and col factór Ei (86% of strains). In 1976 and 1977 this phage type gradually replaced col factor Ia that in 1975 was predominant. The rise in the incidence of these strains was striking and pointed to their intensive circulation among the population of East-Slovakian districts, particularly among children of preschool age. A hypothetic assumption is that such changes in the phage type and colicin type patterns might precede the new epidemic wave of dysentery outbreaks in the population. That would also explain e.g. the irregularity of dysentery epidemic cycles encountered in Czechoslovakia during the decade from 1972 through 1982. The analysis of strains by pattern of antibiogram showed that the percentage of strains resistant to all antimicrobials and sulphonamides tested remained virtually constant over the three years under study and did not exceed 6% of strains. Only the strains monoresistant to tetracycline were found to show a striking rise in their incidence from 5% in 1975 to 23% in 1977. In the majority of cases they were S. sonnei strains with col factor Ei.