Antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter jejuni subsp jejuni strains isolated from humans in 1998 to 2001 in Montreal, Canada

The rates of resistance of 51 to 72 human strains of Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni isolated annually from 1998 to 2001 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, varied from 1 to 12% for erythromycin, 43 to 68% for tetracycline, and 10 to 47% for ciprofloxacin. In the last years of the study, there was a significant increase in the rate of resistance to ciprofloxacin (P=0.00003) but not in the rate of resistance to erythromycin (P=0.056) or tetracycline (P=0.095) compared to the rate obtained in the first years. All 51 C. jejuni strains isolated in 2001 were susceptible to gentamicin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, imipenem, and meropenem. From 1999 to 2001, 74 strains of C. jejuni acquired abroad were significantly more resistant to ciprofloxacin than 109 strains of C. jejuni acquired locally (66 versus 9%, P<0.00001) but were not significantly more resistant to erythromycin (1 versus 6%, P=0.15) or to tetracycline (55 versus 58%, P=0.87).