Pattern of antibiotic sensitivity in enteric fever: A tertiary care hospital experience

Objectives: to describe the antibiotic sensitivity pattern ofsalmonella typhi and salmonella paratyphi from blood culture specimens. methods: this cross-sectional study was done in the department of medicine,birdem from july 2009 to june 2012. standard laboratory and microbiological procedures were followed for blood culture and antibiotic sensitivity tests. results: among the 97 blood culture positive samples,s. typhi was 71 (73.2%) and s. paratyphi was 26 (26.8%). multi-drug resistant strains of s. typhi and s. paratyphi were 23 (32.4%) and 3 (11.5%) cases respectively. azithromycin,nalidixic acid,ciprofloxacin,levofloxacin and amoxicillin resistance was also found in a good number of cases (s. typhi and s. paratyphi: 71.8% and 57.7%,42.3% and 30.8%,38% and 34.6%,38% and 26.9% and 38% and 26.9% cases respectively). nineteen (31.1%) of the 61ciprofloxacin sensitive organisms were resistant to nalidixic acid. ceftriaxone was sensitive in 100% of s. typhi and s. paratyphi. cefixim,ciprofloxacin,levofloxacin,imipenem were among the most common sensitive antibiotics (s. typhi and s. paratyphi: 83.1% and 73.1%,62% and 65.4%,53.5% and 65.4%,76.1% and 65.4% cases respectively). conclusion: ceftriaxone was the most sensitive antibiotic for treating enteric fever followed by cefixim,imipenem and ciprofloxacin. however,in suspected cases of enteric fever,blood culture should be requested before prescribing antibiotic. © 2014,bangladesh society of medicine. all rights reserved.