Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Hygiene logoLink to The Journal of Hygiene
. 1981 Dec;87(3):339–355. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400069588

Comparison of four methods of differential typing of isolates of Shigella sonnei.

S Helgason, D C Old
PMCID: PMC2134131  PMID: 7031123

Abstract

An epidemiological study of Sonne dysentery in Dundee during the years 1971-6 was made by examining, in respect of 1420 isolates of Shigella sonnei, the discriminating power of colicine typing, antibiogram testing, biotyping and resistotyping and the stabilty of the markers they provided. Colicine typing identified nine colicine types, including four not previously described. However, because types 4 and 4 var., determined by col Ib, and type U, producing no colicines, accounted for 96% of the isolates, discrimination with colicine typing was poor. In antibiotic sensitivity test, 13 different antibiogram patterns were noted. Less than 1% of the isolates were sensitive to all of the eight antibiotics tested; most were multiply drug-resistant. Resistance to kanamycin, neomycin and paromomycin (KNP) was apparently due to a single resistance determinant, widely distributed in a majority (53%) of the isolates. When definitive times were chosen for reading each biotyping test, only maltose and rhamnose of the 13 "sugars' tested differentiated isolates into prompt- and late-fermenting types. Though the ability to ferment rhamnose was a stable property, it discriminated only 1.5% of the minority, late-fermenting type. Resistotyping with six chemicals discriminated eight epidemiologically valid resistotypes, including three new types. However, 93 of the isolates belonged to only three resistotypes. Analysis of the data for isolated from 286 epidemiologically distinct episodes showed that the variability of colicine and antibiogram characters, found among isolates within, respectively, 40 and 28% of the episodes, was generally associated with loss or gain of a plasmid ("col Ib-KNP') which determined production of colicine Ib and KNP resistance. These characters varied both in vivo and in vitro. Variability of resistotype characters, on the other hand, was observed in only 28 (9%) episodes, 14 of which possibly represented examples of mixed or sequential infections. For accurate epidemiological tracing of strains of Sh. sonnei in a community, resistotyping, the technique showing the greatest discrimination and least variability of the four tested, should be included as the principal typing method.

Full text

PDF
339

Images in this article

354-2Plate 1
on p.354-2

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ABBOTT J. D., SHANNON R. A method for typing Shigella sonnei, using colicine production as a marker. J Clin Pathol. 1958 Jan;11(1):71–77. doi: 10.1136/jcp.11.1.71. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Alfredsson G. A., Barker R. M., Old D. C., Duguid J. P. Use of tartaric acid isomers and citric acid in the biotyping of Salmonella typhimurium. J Hyg (Lond) 1972 Dec;70(4):651–666. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400022518. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Aoki Y. Colicin type, biochemical type and drug-resistance pattern of Shigella sonnei isolated in Japan and its neighboring countries. Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz) 1968;16(2):303–313. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Barker R. M. Colicinogeny in Salmonella typhimurium. J Gen Microbiol. 1980 Sep;120(1):21–26. doi: 10.1099/00221287-120-1-21. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chan-Teoh C. H., Wong W. T., Huang C. T., Shum H. Colicine types of Shigella sonnei isolated in Hong Kong. J Clin Pathol. 1971 Oct;24(7):636–640. doi: 10.1136/jcp.24.7.636. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Crichton P. B., Old D. C. Biotyping of Escherichia coli. J Med Microbiol. 1979 Nov;12(4):473–486. doi: 10.1099/00222615-12-4-473. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Duguid J. P., Anderson E. S., Alfredsson G. A., Barker R., Old D. C. A new biotyping scheme for Salmonella typhimurium and its phylogenetic significance. J Med Microbiol. 1975 Feb;8(1):149–166. doi: 10.1099/00222615-8-1-149. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Elek S. D., Davies J. R., Miles R. Resistotyping of Shigella sonnei. J Med Microbiol. 1973 Aug;6(3):329–345. doi: 10.1099/00222615-6-3-329. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. GILLIES R. R. COLICINE PRODUCTION AS AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MARKER OF SHIGELLA SONNEI. J Hyg (Lond) 1964 Mar;62:1–9. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400039711. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gillies R. R., Brown D. O. A new colicine type (type 15) of Shigella sonnei. J Hyg (Lond) 1966 Sep;64(3):305–308. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400040584. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Green D. M., Scott S. S., Mowat D. A., Shearer E. J., Thomson J. M. Water-borne outbreak of viral gastroenteritis and Sonne dysentery. J Hyg (Lond) 1968 Sep;66(3):383–392. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400041255. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Old D. C., Helgason S., Scott A. C. Discrimination by multiple typing of isolates of Shigella sonnei in Dundee (1971-6). J Hyg (Lond) 1981 Dec;87(3):357–368. doi: 10.1017/s002217240006959x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Ozanne B., Benveniste R., Tipper D., Davies J. Aminoglycoside antibiotics: inactivation by phosphorylation in Escherichia coli carrying R factors. J Bacteriol. 1969 Nov;100(2):1144–1146. doi: 10.1128/jb.100.2.1144-1146.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Szturm-Rubinsten S. Determination of biotype, phage type and colicinogenic character of Shigella sonnei, and its epidemiologic importance. Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz) 1968;16(3):421–428. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Tu H. K. Historical chapters of Chinese dentistry. CAL. 1976 Oct;40(4):24-8, 30. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Umezawa H., Okanishi M., Kondo S., Hamana K., Utahara R., Maeda K., Mitsuhashi S. Phosphorylative inactivation of aminoglycosidic antibiotics by Escherichia coli carrying R factor. Science. 1967 Sep 29;157(3796):1559–1561. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. XYLOSE fermentation by Shigella sonnei. Mon Bull Minist Health Public Health Lab Serv. 1952 Mar;11:68–72. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Hygiene are provided here courtesy of Cambridge University Press

RESOURCES