Rapid emergence of third-generation cephalosporin resistance in Shigella sp. isolated in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.

Shigellosis is a major cause of diarrheal diseases among children in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India, which have a population of 350,000 people, including settlers from mainland India and 6 indigenous tribes. From the last one-and-half decade, we have been monitoring the species distribution and emergence of antibiotic resistance among the isolates of Shigella. The circulating Shigella strains have been found rapidly acquiring resistance to a wide spectrum of antibiotics.