Published in:
12-03-2024 | Campylobacter | Original Article
Human Campylobacter spp. infections in Italy
Authors:
Verena Zerbato, Stefano Di Bella, Riccardo Pol, Roberto Luzzati, Gianfranco Sanson, Simone Ambretti, Stefano Andreoni, Richard Aschbacher, Mariano Bernardo, Alessandra Bielli, Gioconda Brigante, Marina Busetti, Giulio Camarlinghi, Davide Carcione, Antonella Carducci, Nicola Clementi, Edoardo Carretto, Chiara Chilleri, Giulia Codda, Alessandra Consonni, Venera Costantino, Venere Cortazzo, Manuela Di Santolo, Saveria Dodaro, Barbara Fiori, Aurora García-Fernández, Claudio Foschi, Elisa Gobbato, Francesca Greco, Roberto Marcello La Ragione, Nicasio Mancini, Alberto Enrico Maraolo, Anna Marchese, Daniela Marcuccio, Roberta Marrollo, Carola Mauri, Annarita Mazzariol, Gianluca Morroni, Adriana Mosca, Giacomo Nigrisoli, Elisabetta Pagani, Eva Maria Parisio, Simona Pollini, Mario Sarti, Annarita Sorrentino, Domenico Trotta, Laura Villa, Chiara Vismara, Luigi Principe
Published in:
European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
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Issue 5/2024
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Abstract
Purpose
Campylobacter is a frequent cause of enteric infections with common antimicrobial resistance issues. The most recent reports of campylobacteriosis in Italy include data from 2013 to 2016. We aimed to provide national epidemiological and microbiological data on human Campylobacter infections in Italy during the period 2017–2021.
Methods
Data was collected from 19 Hospitals in 13 Italian Regions. Bacterial identification was performed by mass spectrometry. Antibiograms were determined with Etest or Kirby-Bauer (EUCAST criteria).
Results
In total, 5419 isolations of Campylobacter spp. were performed. The most common species were C. jejuni (n = 4535, 83.7%), followed by C. coli (n = 732, 13.5%) and C. fetus (n = 34, 0.6%). The mean age of patients was 34.61 years and 57.1% were males. Outpatients accounted for 54% of the cases detected. Campylobacter were isolated from faeces in 97.3% of cases and in 2.7% from blood. C. fetus was mostly isolated from blood (88.2% of cases). We tested for antimicrobial susceptibility 4627 isolates (85.4%). Resistance to ciprofloxacin and tetracyclines was 75.5% and 54.8%, respectively; resistance to erythromycin was 4.8%; clarithromycin 2% and azithromycin 2%. 50% of C. jejuni and C. coli were resistant to ≥ 2 antibiotics. Over the study period, resistance to ciprofloxacin and tetracyclines significantly decreased (p < 0.005), while resistance to macrolides remained stable.
Conclusion
Campylobacter resistance to fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines in Italy is decreasing but is still high, while macrolides retain good activity.