BioMed Central has published the abstract of a study into the character of Campylobacter isolates from infected children in northen Taiwan, as well as basic information about the patients, collected from December 2003 to February 2005.
The study involved a total of 894 fecal specimens were collected by several clinics and hospitals from children who had diarrhea, followed by plating onto selective media. Drug susceptibility test of the isolates from these specimens were conducted by disk diffusion method and their serotypes were also studied using commercial antisera made in Japan.
According to the abstract, “the isolation rate of Campylobacter during these 15 months was 6.8 percent and was higher in winter (11.1 percent) than in other seasons. C. jejuni was the most prevalent (95.1 percent) species in northern Taiwan, comparable to other developed countries.
“Among the 61 Campylobacter isolates, most were resistant to tetracycline (93.4 percent), nalidixic acid (91.8 percent), ciprofloxacin (90.2 percent), and ampicillin (85.5 percent). Erythromycin-resistant isolates represented 3.3 percent of all isolates, suggesting that this drug may be the first choice for treatment. The serotypes of the 61 isolates were demonstrated and only 41.4 percent were typable”
To access the full study, go here.