High Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance and Molecular Characterization of Integrons among Shigella Isolates in Eastern China

Abstract

ABSTRACTA total of 747Shigellaisolates were collected from hospitals in Jiangsu Province of China. Susceptibilities to antimicrobials and integrons were tested. A total of 78.3% ofS. flexneriisolates and a total of 74.3%S. soneiisolates were resistant to at least three antibiotics. Of theShigellaisolates, 74.7% had integron I and 82.6% had integron II. The conjunction of the high prevalence of integrons inShigellaand high resistance to antimicrobials will lead to rapid dissemination of resistant genes in this region.