@article {Al-Moyed1157, author = {Khaled A. Al-Moyed and Nabil S. Harmal and Abdulilah H. Al-Harasy and Hassan A. Al-Shamahy}, title = {Increasing single and multi-antibiotic resistance in Shigella species isolated from shigellosis patients in Sana{\textquoteright}a, Yemen}, volume = {27}, number = {8}, pages = {1157--1160}, year = {2006}, publisher = {Saudi Medical Journal}, abstract = {OBJECTIVE: The epidemiology and antibiotic susceptibility of Shigella species changes over time. Updated susceptibility knowledge is necessary for appropriate empirical antibiotic treatment. Thus, this research aimed to study these changes in 2 time periods with an interval of 10~years.METHODS: Two hundreds and three Shigella strains, isolated from stool samples of diarrheic patients at the Central Health Laboratory in Sana{\textquoteright}a, Yemen in 2 time periods (1993 and 2003) with a 10-year interval, were examined for serotyping and drug resistance pattern. Resistance patterns of the strains to 12 commonly used antimicrobial agents and minimum inhibitory concentrations of the antibiotics were tested.RESULTS: Shigella flexneri (60\%) was found to be the most common isolate of the total Shigella species, followed by Shigella dysenteriae (28.6\%) and Shigella boydii (11.3\%). In Shigella flexneri strains, Shigella flexneri 3 (30.5\%) was the most prevalent serotype, followed by Shigella flexneri 6 (17.2\%), and Shigella flexneri 1 (12.3\%). All strains were found equally susceptible to cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin, but more than 80\% of the strains of 2003 were resistant to tetracycline, co-trimoxazole, and 52\% of the same strains were resistant to ampicillin. Resistance to chloramphenicol was found in 61\%, cefuroxime in 56.2\%, and cephradine, 52\% of the strains. Overall, Shigella species showed statistically significant increase in resistance against tetracycline, cephradine, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, nalidixic acid, and aztreonam (p\<0.05) over the 10~years period. This indicates decreased efficacy of co-trimoxazole and nalidixic acid for the empirical treatment of shigellosis in Sana{\textquoteright}a, Yemen. Almost 55.2\% of the strains were resistant to 4~drugs.CONCLUSION: This is one of the first studies reporting epidemiological pattern of Shigella species in Sana{\textquoteright}a, Yemen with regard to serotypes and antibiotic resistance patterns. Based on these antibiotic resistance pattern findings, it is suggested that the commonly in use antibiotics including ampicillin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol should not be used for empirical treatment of shigellosis in Yemen.}, issn = {0379-5284}, URL = {https://smj.org.sa/content/27/8/1157}, eprint = {https://smj.org.sa/content/27/8/1157.full.pdf}, journal = {Saudi Medical Journal} }