Rollback of Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhi Resistance to Chloramphenicol and Other Antimicrobials in Kolkata, India

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi created a significant therapeutic problem in the late 1980s and early 1990s (1, 7, 8). As serotype Typhi strains were resistant to commonly used antimicrobials for the treatment of typhoid fever, such as ampicillin, amoxicillin, chloramphenicol, and cotrimoxazole, ciprofloxacin began to be used widely for MDR typhoid fever (2). But after some years, decreased clinical responsiveness of typhoid fever cases to ciprofloxacin was observed. Ceftriaxone continues to be uniformly effective against typhoid fever, including cases in which ciprofloxacin treatment has failed (3). The purpose of the study was to compare the antimicrobial resistance patterns of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi strains isolated from typhoid fever cases in Kolkata, India over the past few years.