Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-cjp7w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-24T00:01:27.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Plasmid-determined antibiotic resistance in Shigella flexneri isolated in England and Wales between 1974 and 1978

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

J. A. Frost
Affiliation:
Division of Enteric Pathogens, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
B. Rowe
Affiliation:
Division of Enteric Pathogens, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The majority of Shigella flexneri strains isolated in England and Wales are from infections contracted abroad. Most of these strains are drug-resistant, over 75% being resistant to streptomycin and sulphonamides, sulphonamides alone or streptomycin, sulphonamides and tetracyclines. A selection of resistant strains was tested for resistance transfer and the plasmids identified were characterized by compatibility grouping.

Streptomycin and sulphonamide resistance was usually determined by a non-autotransferring plasmid which may be mobilized by standard transfer factors, or by the plasmid which conferred tetracycline resistance where this was present. The remaining resistant strains were predominantly resistant to four or more drugs. These strains carried autotransferring plasmids of a variety of compatibility groups, of which groups B, I1 and FII were the most common.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, E. S. (1965). Origin of transferable drug resistance factors in the Enterobacteriaceae. British Medical Journal ii, 12891291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, E. S. (1975). The problems and implications of chloramphenicol resistance in the typhoid bacillus. Journal of Hygiene 74, 289299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, E. S. (1977). The geographical predominance of resistance transfer systems of various compatibility groups in salmonellae. In Topics in Infectious Diseases, Vol. II. R factors: Their Properties and Possible Control (ed. Drews, J. and Hogenauer, G.), pp. 2538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, E. S. & Lewis, M. J. (1965 a). Drug resistance and its transfer in Salmonella typhimurium. Nature 206, 579583.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, E. S. & Lewis, M. J. (1965 b). Characterisation of a transfer factor associated with drug resistance in Salmonella typhimurium. Nature 208, 843849.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, E. S. & Threlfall, E. J. (1974). The characterization of plasmids in the entero bacteria. Journal of Hygiene 72, 471487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, E. S., Threlfall, E. J., Carr, J. M., McConnell, M. M. & Smith, H. R. (1977). Clonal distribution of resistance plasmid-carrying Salmonella typhimurium mainly in the Middle East. Journal of Hygiene 79, 425448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grindley, N. D. F., Grindley, J. N. & Anderson, E. S. (1972). R factor compatibility groups. Molecular and General Genetics 119, 287297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frost, J. A., Rowe, B., Vandepitte, J. & Threlfall, E. J. (1981). Plasmid characterisation in the investigation of an epidemic caused by multiply resistant Shigella dysenteriae type 1 in Central Africa. Lancet ii, 10741076.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frost, J. A., Rowe, B. & Vandepitte, J. (1982). Acquisition of trimethoprim resistance in epidemic strain of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 from Zaire. Lancet i, 963.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gross, R. J., Thomas, L. V. & Rowe, B. (1979). Shigella dysenteriae, Sh.flexneri and Sh. boydii infections in England and Wales: the importance of foreign travel. British Medical Journal 280, 744.Google Scholar
Gross, R. J., Rowe, B., Cheasty, T. & Thomas, L. V. (1981). Increase in drug resistance among Shigella dysenteriae, Sh. flexneri and Sh. boydii. British Medical Journal 283, 575.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacob, A. E., Shapiro, J. A., Yamamoto, L., Smith, D. I., Cohen, S. N. & Berg, D. (1977). Appendix B. Bacterial Plasmids. In DNA Insertion Elements, Plasmids and Episomes (ed. Bukhari, A. I., Shapiro, J. A. and Adhya, S. L.), p. 607670. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.Google Scholar
Mata, L. J., Gangarosa, E. J., Caceres, A., Perera, D. R. & Mejicanos, M. L. (1970). Epidemic Shiga bacillus dysentery in Central America. I. Etiologic investigations in Guatemala, 1969. Journal of Infectious Diseases 122, 170180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McConnell, M. M., Smith, H. R.Leonardopoulos, J. & Anderson, E. S. (1979). The value of plasmid studies in the epidemiology of infections duo to drug-resistant Salmonella wien. Journal of Infectious Diseases 139, 178190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. (1979). Statistics of Infectious Diseases, December quarter, 1978. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Rowe, B., Frost, J. A., Threlfall, E. J. & Ward, L. R. (1980). Spread of a multiresistant clone of Salmonella typhimurium phage type 66/122 in South East Asia and the Middle East. Lancet ii, 10701071.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Threlfall, E. J., Rowe, B. & Huq, I. (1980). Plasmid encoded multiple antibiotic resistance in Vibrio cholerae El Tor from Bangladesh. Lancet i, 12471248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar