Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern Changes of Shigella Isolates in Northeast Iran

Background and Objectives: Shigellosis is a worldwide health problem, especially in developing countries. In Iran, shigellosis is one of the major causes of childhood morbidity associated with diarrhea. This is a prospective (February 2018 to June 2019), descriptive study to find out antibiotic resistance pattern of Shigella serogroup isolates among children with acute diarrhea in 2 children hospitals and also a selected clinical laboratory in Mashhad Iran. Materials and Methods: All fecal inflammatory samples were collected from February 2018 to June 2019. Children 0f under 14 years of age were enrolled in this study. Isolation, identification, and determination of the serogroups and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Shigella serogroups were the aims of the study. Results: The prevalence of Shigella species was 3.33% among around 2043 stool samples from children with diarrhea in our study from February 2018 to July 2019. The most common serogroup isolated was Shigella sonnei, followed by Shigella flexneri. Multi-drug resistance Shigella isolates were 36.05%. Co-trimoxazole, amoxicillin, ampicillin, cefixime, ceftriaxone, gentamycin, doxycycline, and aztreonam resistance was observed among the multi-drug resistant isolates. Resistance rate to ceftriaxone and azithromycin was very significant. Conclusions: As a conclusion, given the emergence of the antibiotic resistant Shigella strains, there is a need for regularly updated regional antibiotic sensitivity patterns of the pathogen to manage treatment.