Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of non-typhoid Salmonella in military personnel, 1988-2013

Objective: To describe the spanning 25 years data for the occurrence, magnitude, and trends regarding antimicrobial resistance of non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) isolated from non-immune travelers to Thailand participating in joint military operations. Methods: A total of 355 NTS isolates, obtained from 2 052 fecal samples from US soldiers deployed for military maneuvers in Thailand during 1988-2013, were examined for NTS serogroup/serotypes and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by disk diffusion to these 10 antibiotics: ampicillin, azithromycin (AZM), ciprofloxacin, colistin, gentamicin, kanamycin, nalidixic acid, streptomycin (STR), tetracycline (TET), and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Identified AZM-resistant NTS isolates were further evaluated for their minimal inhibitory concentration by the E-test method. Results: NTS infections accounted for 17.3% (355/2 052), including 11 serogroups and 50 different serotypes. The most prevalent serogroup was Salmonella group C2-C3 (35.8%, 127/355) followed by groups B (21.1%, 75/355) and C1 (18.6%, 66/355). Identified serotypes included Salmonella hadar (n=60), Salmonella rissen (n=45), and Salmonella blockley (n=34). Among the predominate serogroups, antimicrobial resistance was consistently high against TET (76.9%, 273/355) followed by STR (40.8%, 145/355). One Salmonella senftenberg isolate demonstrated decreased ciprofloxacin susceptibility. Most isolates (94.6%) were resistant to one or more antimicrobials, and the most common multidrug resistance was TET-STR-nalidixic acid (11.5%, 41/355). Conclusions: The prevalence of NTS serotypes and the growing magnitude of antibiotic resistant bacteria isolated from deployed US military in Thailand are documented from 1988-2013. This study demonstrates the antibiotic resistance profiles, highlighting the effectiveness of AZM that is a first-line treatment for travelers to Southeast Asia. AZM-resistant NTS isolates are periodically observed over a 25-year period. Hence, the ongoing surveillance and prevalence efforts are required to monitor NTS resistant strains causing further treatment failure.