Antimicrobial resistance patterns and prevalence of integrons in Shigella species isolated from children with diarrhea in southwest Iran

Objective:To investigate the antimicrobial resistance patterns and prevalence of integrons in Shigella species isolated from children with diarrhea in southwest Iran.Methods:In this study,1530 stool samples were collected from children under 15 years with diarrhea referred to teaching hospitals in Ahvaz and Abadan,southwest Iran.Shigella spp.were identified by standard biochemical tests and PCR.The antibiotic resistance pattern of all Shigella isolates was determined by the disk diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC)by E-test.Results:Of 1530 stool samples,91(5.9%,91/1530)were positive for Shigella spp.the most common Shigella isolates were Shigella flexneri 47(51.6%,47/1530).Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that the highest antibiotic resistance was related to trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole(87.9%,80/91)and ampicillin(86.8%,79/91).Multiplex PCR results revealed that 56%and 86.9%of Shigella isolates carried integron classⅠand integron classⅡgenes,respectively.None of the isolates included the integron classⅢgene.Conclusions:The high prevalence of multi-drug resistance in Shigella isolates in our area increases the concerns about dissemination of the antibiotic-resistant isolates in this bacterium.