Multidrug resistance in Vibrio cholerae.

Cholera continues to be endemic in a large geographical tract covering a number of states in the eastern, western and southern parts of India. Even though V. cholerae non-01 has been reported from some parts of Delhi(l), V. cholerae-01 biotype Eltor continues to be the main etiological agent identified from Delhi(2). Rapid replacement of fluid and electrolyte using oral rehydration therapy or intravenous fluids and the subsequent maintenance of hydration remains the mainstay of management in cholera patients. However, the use of specific antimicrobials is known to reduce the duration of diarrhea as well as speed up the clearance of the organisms from the stools(3). The WHO guidelines(4) as well as the National Policy for the Control of Cholera(5) recommend the use of cotrimoxazole in children; the other alternative drugs being tetracycline, furazolidone, chloramphenicol and erythromycin. It has further been suggested that the choice of antibiotic be guided by the local sensitivity patterns prevailing at a particular time. Multidrug resistant cholera (Eltor) was first reported in 1977(6) which was followed by several other reports of multidrug resistant V. cholerae causing outbreaks all over the globe. We conducted this study to review the antibiotic sensitivity pattern prevalent amongst the V. cholerae isolated from the patients attending the Diarrhea Training and Treatment Unit (DTU) of our hospital.