Changing antibiotic sensitivity in enteric fever.

Emergence of drug resistance in enteric fever is a major concern for the clinician. All children hospitalized with enteric fever during the period 1 March to 31 May 2000 were studied prospectively for their clinical presentation and response to therapy, and an attempt was made to compare these results with the results of hospitalized children with enteric fever during a similar period in the years 1990 and 1995. The results revealed that there was a significant change in the response to antibiotic therapy as evidenced by significant resistance to ciprofloxacin (55.5 per cent) and early evidence of emerging drug resistance to ceftriaxone (4.4 per cent). Although the sample size was small and had its limitations, the results also pointed towards the re-emergence of sensitivity to chloramphenicol.