Related Experiment Videos
The concurrent prevalence of chloramphenicol-sensitive and multi-drug resistant Salmonella typhi in Vellore, S. India
M V Jesudason1, R John, T J John
1Department of Microbiology, Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore, India.
Abstract:
A multidrug resistant (MDR) variety of Salmonella typhi emerged as the cause of epidemic typhoid fever in some Asian countries including India, during the late 1980s. We faced the epidemic from April 1990 to the first quarter of 1993. However, during this period we continued to isolate chloramphenicol sensitive (CS) S. typhi also. The relative prevalences showed that the frequency of CS variety was unaffected by the epidemic of MDR variety. This is an unusual epidemiological pattern, which indicates that there may have been factors which favoured the epidemic of the MDR variety but not the CS one.
Insights
A multidrug resistant Salmonella typhi caused an epidemic, yet chloramphenicol sensitive strains remained unaffected. This suggests specific factors favored the resistant strain
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Multidrug resistant (MDR) Salmonella typhi emerged in Asian countries, including India, in the late 1980s.
- An epidemic of typhoid fever caused by MDR Salmonella typhi occurred from April 1990 to early 1993.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the epidemiological pattern of multidrug resistant (MDR) Salmonella typhi during an epidemic.
- To analyze the prevalence of chloramphenicol sensitive (CS) Salmonella typhi in parallel with the MDR strain.
Main Methods:
- Isolation and identification of Salmonella typhi strains.
- Monitoring the prevalence of both MDR and CS Salmonella typhi during the study period.
Main Results:
- The epidemic of MDR Salmonella typhi was observed from April 1990 to the first quarter of 1993.
- Chloramphenicol sensitive (CS) Salmonella typhi continued to be isolated during the same period.
- The frequency of CS Salmonella typhi remained unaffected by the MDR epidemic.
Conclusions:
- An unusual epidemiological pattern was observed where the MDR strain caused an epidemic while the CS strain's prevalence was stable.
- This suggests the existence of specific factors that promoted the epidemic of the MDR variety over the CS variety.