%0 Journal Article
%T The In Vitro Antibiotic Susceptibility of Malaysian Isolates of Burkholderia pseudomallei
%A Norazah Ahmad
%A Rohaidah Hashim
%A Azura Mohd Noor
%J International Journal of Microbiology
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/121845
%X Acute melioidosis may present as localised or septicaemic infections and can be fatal if left untreated. Burkholderia pseudomallei resistant to antibiotics used for the treatment of melioidosis had been reported. The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Burkholderia pseudomallei isolated in Malaysia to a panel of antibiotics used for the treatment of melioidosis and also to potential alternative antibiotics such as tigecycline, ampicillin/sulbactam, and piperacillin/tazobactam. A total of 170 Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates were subjected to minimum inhibitory concentration determination using -test method to eleven antibiotics. All isolates were sensitive to meropenem and piperacillin/tazobactam. For ceftazidime, imipenem, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, and doxycycline resistance was observed in 1 isolate (0.6%) for each of the antibiotics. Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole resistance was observed in 17 (10%) isolates. For other antibiotics, ampicillin/sulbactam, chloramphenicol, tigecycline, and ciprofloxacin resistance were observed in 1 (0.6%), 6 (3.5%), 60 (35.3%) and 98 (57.7%) isolates respectively. One isolate B170/06 exhibited resistance to 4 antibiotics, namely, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and tigecycline. In conclusion, the Malaysian isolates were highly susceptible to the current antibiotics used in the treatment of melioidosis in Malaysia. Multiple resistances to the antibiotics used in the maintenance therapy are the cause for a concern. 1. Introduction The causative agent of melioidosis, Burkholderia pseudomallei, is endemic in the Northern part of Australia and Southeast Asia including Malaysia. Acute melioidosis may present as localized or septicaemic infections and can be fatal if left untreated. It was the common cause of community-acquired pneumonia in Northeastern Thailand and was attributed as the cause of fatal community-acquired bacteremic pneumonia in Northern Australia [1, 2]. Latent infection may remain asymptomatic for years only to be reactivated from a latent focus when the host is immunocompromised. Therefore, it is important to treat melioidosis with prolonged course of antibiotics so as to avoid disease relapses which are commonly associated with short courses of antibiotics. Some patients may default treatment or take improper dosage of antibiotics because of the long duration of treatment, and this may contribute to the relapse or the development of resistance. Burkholderia pseudomallei is intrinsically resistant to a wide range of
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmicro/2013/121845/