Occurrence of resistance to vibriostatic compound 0/129 in Vibrio cholerae 01 isolated from clinical and environmental samples in Bangladesh

Fifty-one Vibrio cholerae 01 strains isolated from 734 natural water and plankton samples and 31 rectal swabs were examined. Of these strains, 32 (62.7%) were found to be resistant to vibriostatic compound 0/129. When antibiograms using the antibiotics ampicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, furoxan, and gentamicin were done, it was observed that there was a correlation of sensitivity to 0/129 with selected antibiotics. Only the Ogawa E1 Tor (72% of strains resistant) and Inaba classical (28% of strains resistant) biotypes of V. cholerae 01 showed resistance to 0/129. On the other hand, all Inaba E1 Tor and Ogawa classical strains were susceptible to 0/129. The 32 0/129-resistant and 19 0/129-sensitive isolates of V. cholerae 01 were tested for the presence of plasmid DNA. Only two strains isolated from the environment were found to carry a plasmid, and they were also found to be resistant to 0/129 and gentamicin. Thus, 0/129 resistance, although more common than previously suspected, is concluded not to be plasmid mediated in the strains tested in this study.