Abstract: Objectives: The aim of this study was to define the epidemiological, clinical, and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Shigella gastroenteritis cases occurring during the years 2003-2009 and to compare results with those of the years 1987-2002. Methods: A hospital-based study was conducted over a 22-year period. All 238 Shigella strains isolated between 2003 and 2009 were compared to 618 isolates from the period 1987-1994 and 218 Shigella strains isolated during 1995-2002 with regard to antimicrobial resistance patterns and patient clinical characteristics. Results: The predominant species during all periods was Shigella sonnei, with an increasing predominance across the periods (64.0%, 71.5%, and 87.8%, respectively; p < 0.001). Neither the prevalence of bloody diarrhea nor other clinical characteristics changed across the study periods, except for the prevalence of dehydration, which increased (11.0%, 20.6%, and 28.6%, respectively; p < 0.001). During the period 2003-2009, 69.9% of Shigella were resistant to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, 35.8% to ampicillin, and 4.7% to nalidixic acid. No case resistant to ciprofloxacin was detected. Multidrug resistance was also found to be similar in the last two periods (24.0% vs. 28.1%, respectively). Conclusions: There was both a microbiological and a clinical change in childhood Shigella gastroenteritis cases over the 22 years. The antibiotic resistance pattern appears to have remained stable over the last two periods. There is a need to re-examine the criteria and clinical management guidelines for suspected shigellosis cases. (C) 2011 International Society for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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