High prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinant aac(6′)-Ib-cr amongst Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium isolates from hospitalised paediatric patients with diarrhoea in China

In this study, the antimicrobial susceptibilities and prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinants amongst Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium isolates from hospitalised paediatric patients with diarrhoea in China were investigated. In total, 40 (64.5%) of 62 S. Typhimurium isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin (minimum inhibitory concentration ≥0.5 μg/mL), comprising 28 isolates with low-level resistance and 12 isolates with high-level resistance. All ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates were multiresistant to other antimicrobial agents. Four pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) clusters were found amongst the 40 ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates, amongst which PFGE clusters A, B, E and D accounted for 7, 4, 1 and 28 isolates, respectively. Two isolates with high-level ciprofloxacin resistance had two mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) of gyrA and parC. The remaining ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates had only one mutation in the QRDR of gyrA. All 62 S. Typhimurium isolates were negative for qnr genes and qepA and 23 (37.1%) of the isolates were positive for aac(6′)-Ib-cr. Nineteen isolates harbouring aac(6′)-Ib-cr belonged to PFGE cluster D. A high prevalence of ciprofloxacin resistance and aac(6′)-Ib-cr was found amongst S. Typhimurium isolates in China from hospitalised paediatric patients with diarrhoea not receiving quinolones. A single mutation in the QRDR of gyrA as well as production of AAC(6′)-Ib-cr contributed to ciprofloxacin resistance. Clonal spread was responsible for the dissemination of aac(6′)-Ib-cr amongst S. Typhimurium isolates.