Susceptibility of bacteria isolated from acute gastrointestinal infections to rifaximin and other antimicrobial agents in Mexico.

BACKGROUND

Bacterial resistance may hamper the antimicrobial management of acute gastroenteritis. Bacterial susceptibility to rifaximin, an antibiotic that achieves high fecal concentrations (up to 8,000μg/g), has not been evaluated in Mexico.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the susceptibility to rifaximin and other antimicrobial agents of enteropathogenic bacteria isolated from patients with acute gastroenteritis in Mexico.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

Bacterial strains were analyzed in stool samples from 1,000 patients with diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis. The susceptibility to rifaximin (RIF) was tested by microdilution (<100, <200, <400 and <800μg/ml) and susceptibility to chloramphenicol (CHL), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (T-S), neomycin (NEO), furazolidone (FUR), fosfomycin (FOS), ampicillin (AMP) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) was tested by agar diffusion at the concentrations recommended by the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute and the American Society for Microbiology.

RESULTS

Isolated bacteria were: enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) (EPEC) 531, Shigella 120, non-Typhi Salmonella 117, Aeromonas spp. 80, enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) 54, Yersinia enterocolitica 20, Campylobacter jejuni 20, Vibrio spp. 20, Plesiomonas shigelloides 20, and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC 0:157) 18. The overall cumulative susceptibility to RIF at <100, <200, <400, and <800μg/ml was 70.6, 90.8, 99.3, and 100%, respectively. The overall susceptibility to each antibiotic was: AMP 32.2%, T-S 53.6%, NEO 54.1%, FUR 64.7%, CIP 67.3%, CLO 73%, and FOS 81.3%. The susceptibility to RIF <400 and RIF <800μg/ml was significantly greater than with the other antibiotics (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Resistance of enteropathogenic bacteria to various antibiotics used in gastrointestinal infections is high. Rifaximin was active against 99-100% of these enteropathogens at reachable concentrations in the intestine with the recommended dose.