Phenotypic characterization of Aeromonas isolated from patients with acute diarrheal diseases

The acute diarrheal diseases are one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in children aged under 5 years and in the general population; this demands a great deal of care in the healthcare services. The situation worsens due to the overuse of antimicrobials and the development of bacterial resistance, being the latter an emerging health problem in different areas of the world. Among the causative microorganisms of acute diarrheal diseases are those of Aeromonas genus, recognized as second risk emerging pathogens. To determine the most frequently isolated Aeromonas species in fecal samples from acute diarrheal patients and their antimicrobial susceptibility. The Bauer-Kirby's method allowed identifying the susceptibility to several antimicrobials of 100 isolated samples coming from the provincial hygiene and epidemiology centers during 2007 and 2008. Identification of the species was accomplished in 67% of isolates, being A. caviae (33%) y A. hydrophila (29%) the predominant species. It was demonstrated that 100% of isolates got resistant to at least one of the studied antimicrobials. Drug resistance to cefalotine, sulfonamides and nalidixic acid showed the highest percentages. Tetracycline and chloramphenicol are recommended as the drugs of choice for treating intestinal infections caused by these microorganisms in Cuba.