Summary Background: Shigellosis is a global human health problem causing an important morbidity among travellers returning from tropical areas. This study was aimed to describe the evolution of antimicrobial resistance profile in Shigella spp. isolated between the years 1995e2010 in patients with traveller’s diarrhoea (TD) returning from tropical areas. Methods: The levels of antimicrobial resistance were tested in a total of 191 Shigella spp. iso- lated during the period from 1995 to 2010.
Results: A decrease of cases of diarrhoea caused by Shigella has been observed in recent years. A wide spectrum of antibiotic resistance was observed among Shigella spp. These iso- lates showed high levels of resistance to tetracycline (84%), co-trimoxazole (75.5%), and ampi- cillin (45.5%). The resistance was low to ciprofloxacin (2.1%), azithromycin (3.9%) and furazolidone (8.4%). According to the period, in the case of ampicillin, amoxicillin plus clavu- lanic acid, chloramphenicol, values of resistance were significantly decreasing from 1995 e2000 to 2001e2010, (62.5% vs. 28.4%, 19.8% vs. 6.6%, 23.4 vs. 10.4%, respectively). Mean- while in nalidixic acid and tetracycline the evolution of resistance has increased over time. Conclusions: A decrease in the isolation number of Shigella spp. causing TD has been observed. Differential trends in the evolution of the levels of resistance to the tested antibacterial agents have been observed.