Hyderabad: Shigella bacteria, which cause diarrhoea and spread mainly through water, has been found in a wide variety of food like beef, chicken, egg, milk, fish, vegetables and fruits collected from farms in and around Hyderabad.
The study, published in the Journal of Veterinary Science and Technology, found 17 strains which are resistant to commonly used anti-biotics. The isolated strains showed resistance to antibiotics like ampicillin (82.3 per cent), tetracycline (70.6 per cent), erythromycin (47.1 per cent), ciprofloxacin (41.2 per cent) and chloramphenicol (35.3 per cent).
Dr Farhan Sheikh, senior paediatrician at Rainbow Children’s Hospital, said, “The problem of antibiotic resistance is very high. We have been seeing this in the intensive care unit and there is a need to control antibiotic prescription.”
He said with evidence emerging of antibiotic resistance even in plants and animals, the control levels at farms have to be strictly implemented.
According to experts, shigella has shown steady trends towards multiple drug resistance. Epidemiology reports across the world show that 140 million people suffer from shigellosis and an estimated 6 lakh die per year worldwide.
