Abstract

MARTINEZ M, Julián David; HENAO R, Sandra Consuelo  and  LIZARAZO R, Jorge Iván. Antibiotic Resistance of Helicobacter pylori in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rev Col Gastroenterol [online]. 2014, vol.29, n.3, pp.218-227. ISSN 0120-9957.

Treatment of Helicobacter pylori infections remains an unsolved problem in clinical practice because of the high percentage of failures to eradicate the bacteria. The main cause is that antibiotic resistance varies with the geographical area under study. Several techniques have been developed to study the bacteria’s sensitivity in vitro, but they are difficult to use in clinical practice, and they are costly. It is also important to recognize that sensitivity in vitro is not always directly related to sensitivity in vivo. Nevertheless, these techniques can help improve the results of eradication. This article reviews the mechanisms of resistance and reviews articles published in Latin America on in vitro resistance to the antibiotics most frequently used in eradication schemes. The review found 35 studies in Latin America with a total of 3,358 isolates. Forty-eight percent of the studies used the E-test for sensitivity, 37% used agar dilution, and 8% used agar diffusion. The studies show considerable heterogeneity with important differences among countries in the region and even among studies in the same country. In vitro resistance to metronidazole was 65.7%, in vitro resistance to amoxicillin was 6.5 in vitro resistance to clarithromycin was 14%, in vitro resistance to tetracycline was 8.3% to, in vitro resistance to levofloxacin was 39% and in vitro resistance to furazolidone was 6.9%.

Keywords : Helicobacter pylori; resistance; antibiotics; Latin America.

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