Survey of in vitro susceptibilities of Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 to antimicrobial agents.

Vibrio cholerae O139 (173 strains) and O1 (221 strains) were tested for their in vitro susceptibilities to 39 antimicrobial agents. Both O139 and O1 strains were highly susceptible to azithromycin, cephems, minocycline, penems, and newer fluoroquinolones. O139 strains (94.8%), O1 Indian El Tor strains (97%), and Bangladeshi El Tor strains (50%) were highly resistant to streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim and moderately resistant to chloramphenicol and furazolidone, in sharp contrast to O1 Peruvian El Tor and O1 classical strains. Some Bangladeshi El Tor strains (43.3%) showed tetracycline resistance as well.