020219 Study: Salmonella Resists Cipro

February 9, 2002

Boston - A study at two Taiwan hospitals found that a powerful strain of salmonella developed a resistance to the antibiotic Cipro in less than two years.

In findings published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, Taiwanese researchers genetically analyzed 501 samples of Salmonella enterica serotype choleraesuis, a dangerous strain. They collected the samples from patients at Chang Gung Memorial and Children's hospitals in Taoyuan.

In early 2000, none of the samples were resistant to Cipro. By the third quarter of 2001, 60 percent were resistant.

The patients had not been treated with Cipro before their Salmonella infections, so it is unlikely the bacteria grew resistant in their bodies.

The researchers said the resistant germs came from eating infected pork.

Since last fall's anthrax scare on the East Coast, many researchers have worried about a broader use of the antibiotic. They fear that anthrax and other germs will develop resistance to the drug, which is often used as a last resort in treating salmonella and other powerful infections.