Development of resistance to quinolones in five patients with campylobacteriosis treated with norfloxacin or ciprofloxacin.

Development of resistance to nalidixic acid, norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin was observed in five patients with Campylobacter jejuni or Campylobacter coli infection. From all these patients nalidixic acid- and quinolone-susceptible strains were isolated initially, whereas after therapy with norfloxacin or ciprofloxacin strains resistant to these antibiotics were found. Campylobacter strains from the same patient always belonged to the same species and, with the exception of one case, showed identical rRNA gene restriction (rDNA) patterns. This indicates that double-infection with a susceptible and a resistant strain was not responsible for the phenomenon but rather that the infecting strain rapidly developed resistance following treatment.