Can susceptibility to an antimicrobial be restored by halting its use? The case of streptomycin versus Enterobacteriaceae

To test the widespread view that resistance disappears in the absence of antimicrobial use, we tested streptomycin against 477 Enterobacteriaceae from the Royal London Hospital. Twenty per cent proved resistant although streptomycin is little used at the hospital and streptomycin resistance in gram-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy 1998-02, Vol.41 (2), p.247-251
Main Authors: CHIEW, Y.-F, YEO, S.-F, HALL, L. M. C, LIVERMORE, D. M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology
Antibacterial agents
Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents
Biological and medical sciences
DNA Transposable Elements
DNA, Bacterial
Drug Resistance, Microbial - physiology
Enterobacteriaceae - drug effects
Enterobacteriaceae - genetics
Gentamicins - pharmacology
In Situ Hybridization
Medical sciences
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Spectinomycin - pharmacology
Streptomycin - pharmacology
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Summary:To test the widespread view that resistance disappears in the absence of antimicrobial use, we tested streptomycin against 477 Enterobacteriaceae from the Royal London Hospital. Twenty per cent proved resistant although streptomycin is little used at the hospital and streptomycin resistance in gram-negative bacteria is caused by mechanisms that do not compromise the drugs that are used. Up to 70% of the observed resistance was associated with cross-resistance to spectinomycin and the presence of ant(3")-Ia, an integron-associated gene carried in Tn21-type transposons. This genetic organization may have conserved streptomycin resistance in the absence of direct selection pressure.
ISSN:0305-7453
1460-2091
1460-2091
DOI:10.1093/jac/41.2.247