AN OUTBREAK OF MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT SALMONELLA-TYPHIMURIUM IN DELHI (INDIA)

A total of 85 patients with multidrug resistant S. typhimurium were is olated between May and September 1991 at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, N ew Delhi, India. Fifty eight (72.5%) patients out of 80 stool culture positives suffered from enteritis and 23 (39.6%) of them settled with oral rehydration therapy alone. All strains were sensitive to 4 aminoq uinolones (oflaxcin) but five were resistant to third generation cepha losporin (Cefotaxime; MIC between 50-75 mu g/ml) whereas 88-96 per cen t isolated were resistant to most of the other antibiotics. The conval escent carrier rate was prolonged with the use of antibiotics. The pha ge type of S. typhimurium, isolated from the index and other cases was 178 and multidrug resistance strains had seven plasmids (1.2 to 16 kb ). Barrier nursing and sodium hypochlorite disinfection helped in limi ting the outbreak.