Children - a source of pathogenic microorganism strains resistant to ciprofloxacin

Patients under the age of 16 rarely receive antibiotics from the fluoroquinolone group; however, among microorganisms isolated from the feces of certain children, gram-negative bacteria resistant to ciprofloxacin have been found, while neither children nor adults their family environment did not receive antibacterial drugs during the 4 weeks preceding the examination.. This discovery raised the question of the presence of a reservoir of resistant pathogenic bacteria.

The October issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy published the results of a very interesting study. Dr. Philip I. Tarr and colleagues collected 455 outpatient stool samples without symptoms of diarrhea. Parents and caregivers were asked about their child's antibacterial drugs in the past 4 weeks.

It was found that ciprofloxacin resistant strains of Escherichia coli were found in faecal samples from seven children (2.9%). Four patients had Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and two children had Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Enterobacter aerogenes.

Six of the seven Escherichia coli identified belonged to the phylogenetic groups B2 and D.

Most of the isolated ciprofloxacin-resistant microorganisms were also resistant to other antimicrobial agents. However, none of the children and adults in their family environment received fluoroquinolones in the past 4 weeks before taking the sample for research.

The source of these strains of microorganisms is unclear; these may be animal products if the animals have been treated with antibiotics.

Researchers recognize that this work had a number of limitations, including the lack of information confirming the use or non-use of antibiotics by children. However, scientists believe that more research is needed to conduct a molecular comparison of resistant strains isolated from humans, food and animals to clarify the source of the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains in humans.