Background: Shigellosis and salmonellosis are still
global health problems, especially, in developing
countries
where poor sanitation, lack of clean water supply a
nd proper sewage disposal system exist. The emergen
ce of increased
antimicrobial resistance of
Shigella
and
Salmonella
species are global challenges, particularly in dev
eloping countries like
Ethiopia where increased misuse of antimicrobial ag
ents by human beings occur. Objectives: To determin
e the prevalence
and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of
Shigella
and
Salmonella
isolates from patients with diarrhea attending the
health
institutions in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. Ma
terials and Methods: Health institutional based cro
ss sectional study was
carried out on diarrheic patients attending Gondar
town health institutions, February 29, 2014 to May
20, 2014. Systematic
random sampling technique was used and stool sample
s were collected from 372 study subjects. Samples w
ere cultured onto
MacConkey and
Salmonella
-
Shigella
agars and drug susceptibility patterns of the isola
tes were determined following
standard bacteriological method. Data were coded an
d entered for statistical analysis using SPSS versi
on 20. Data were
presented using tables and chi-square. Result: Of t
he total of 372 stool cultures, 17(4.57%)
Shigella
spp.
and 4(1.08%)
Salmonella spp.
were isolated. Most commonly isolated strains of
Shigella
were
S. flexneri
11(64.7%) followed by
S.
dysenteriae
3(17.65%),
S. boydii
2(11.77%) and
S. sonnei
1(5.88%).
Shigella
isolates
presented high resistance rate to
ampicilin (94.1%), amoxicillin (88.2), tetracycline
(88.2%) and
Salmonella species
were highly resistance to tetracycline
(100%), amoxicillin (100%), and ampicillin (75%). H
owever, all isolates of
Shigella
and
Salmonella
were 100% susceptible
to ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin. Conclusion and re
commendation: This study revealed that isolates of
Shigella
and
Salmonella
showed high rate of drug resistance to the commonl
y used antibiotics. However, all the isolates were
susceptible
to ciprofloxacin, and norfloxacin. Therefore, cipro
floxacin and norfloxacin can be used as drugs of ch
oice for the treatment
of
Shigellosis
and
Salmonellosis.