Treatment with ciprofloxacin of Aeromonas hydrophila associated colitis in a male with antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus.

A 36-year-old white male intravenous drug abuser and homosexual, with antibodies in the serum to the human immunodeficiency virus and a history of ulcerative colitis, had bloody diarrhea and spiking fevers that did not respond to treatment for 1 month with total parenteral nutrition, orally administered sulfasalazine, and 5-amino-salicylic acid enema. Aeromonas hydrophila was isolated from bacterial culture of a biopsy specimen obtained by sigmoidoscopy. The symptoms resolved after a 2 week course of treatment with orally administered ciprofloxacin. Although ciprofloxacin has been reported to be effective against Aeromonas hydrophila in vitro, this is the first report of successful treatment of Aeromonas-associated colitis with ciprofloxacin.