Abstract
PURPOSE: Typhoid fever , a class 1 notifiable disease in Korea, has decreased remarkably since 1970s. But it is still an important endemic disease in Korea. The aim of this study was to characterize the epidemiological features of typhoid fever, and to analyze any changes in antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella typhi isolated nationwide over 10 years. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for the culture-proven cases nationwide from 1992 to 2000, using the data of the Korean National Institute of Health. Patients' age, sex, place of residence, date of occurrence, Vi phage type of the organisms, and antimicrobial sensitivity were studied. Antimicrobial sensitivity tests were available for 1561 of 1769 isolates. RESULTS: The incidence rate of culture-proven typhoid fever in Korea was 0.39 per 100,000 populations. The occurrence of typhoid fever was clustered in the southeast area of the Korean peninsula, where one large outbreak was identified and multiple small outbreaks were suspected. Incidence peaked during April to June every year. For the S. typhi isolates, resistance rates against chloramphenicol and nalidixic acid increased modestly, but resistance to ampicillin , SXT-TMP, tetracycline, or kanamycin resistance remained unchanged, at 3.3%, 1.7%, 8.5%, or 1.2%, respectively. However, multidrug resistant (MDR) isolates first appeared in the early 1990s, and the numbers of isolates characterized by MDR has increased. Furthermore, two strains that were resistant to ciprofloxacin were first identified in Korea. CONCLUSION: The incidence of typhoid fever showed regional clustering in the southeastern province in Korea. There was a mild increase in the resistance to chloramphenicol and nalidixic acid, but the number of MDR isolates has shown a steady increasesince the early 1990s.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call