Study: Resistance Builds to Cipro

BOSTON-A new report in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests microbial resistance is already building against the powerful antibiotic Cipro.

Research at two Taiwan hospitals examined patients who were infected with Salmonella after eating tainted pork. They were treated with Cipro. Some two years later, scientists say strains of Salmonella enterica, serotype choleraesuis have mutated to fight the antibiotic.

In 2000, none of the samples were resistant to the drug. However, by the third quarter of 2001, more than 60% of samples had mutated.

Cipro recently gained national attention after the post-Sept. 11 anthrax attacks in the US. Physicians prescribed the antibiotic to treat several forms of the bacterial disease. The antibiotic is a relatively new tool used to fight bacteria.

Information from www.nytimes.com