Antibiotic resistance pattern in Shigella species isolated from children with acute diarrhea in Tabriz city, Iran

Background and aim: Shigella is one of the leading causes of acute diarrhea in children worldwide. Antibiotic resistance in this bacterium has increased due to the indiscriminate use of common antibiotics. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and pattern of antibiotic resistance in Shigella species isolated from children with acute diarrhea in Tabriz hospitals. Materials and methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 321 samples suspected of Shigella were collected from children's diarrhea stool samples and identified using standard microbiological and biochemical tests. Antibiotic resistance was also determined using disk diffusion by the Kirby-Bauer method. Results: A total of 84 samples were positive for Shigella. Among them, S. flexneri species with 83.3% had the highest frequency and S. boydii with 13.1%, S. sonnei with 2.4% and S. dysanteriae with 1.2% had the lowest frequency. The highest resistance was related to the antibiotics cotrimoxazole (92.85%), tetracycline and ampicillin (67.86%) and the lowest resistance was related to imipenem antibiotics (2.38%) and ceftizoxime (9.52%). Conclusion: The present study showed that Shigella flexneri is the predominant species isolated from children with Shigellosis in hospitals in Tabriz city. Our results also indicate an increase in resistance to common antibiotics. Therefore, it is recommended that antimicrobial susceptibility testing be performed in the study area prior to antibiotic administration.