13 November 2023
In the context of the 11th EDCTP forum, held on 7-10 November 2023 at the Palais des Congrès de Paris in Paris, France, our colleagues from Groupe de Recherche Action en Santé (GRAS) and Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), presented their posters on their respective research studies:
AMR patterns and molecular characterisation of Shigella isolates from under-five children in Zambia (CIDRZ)
Shigella incidence and resistance to commonly used antibiotics in children under five years of age living in a community setting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (GRAS)
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of Shigella, one of the top five causative agents of childhood diarrhoea, is a major public health concern worldwide. Within the scope of the ShigaPlexIM project, aiming at developing a new protein-based vaccine against shigellosis, two epidemiological studies were conducted to assess the burden of shigellosis and drug resistance pattern in children under five years of age in Burkina Faso and Zambia.
At both sites, multidrug resistance was observed across Shigella species and in a high proportion of clinical isolates. In Burkina Faso, the most observed resistances were to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (83%), tetracycline (81%), ampicillin (77%), nalidixic acid (25%) and chloramphenicol (17%). In Zambia, resistance was observed to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (79%), ampicillin (57%), amoxicillin-clavulanate (49%), cefuroxime (56%), and gentamicin (49%).
Overall, the results of these studies indicate a high proportion of antibiotic resistance among the Shigella isolates from young children, calling for action to develop new effective interventions against Shigella such as prophylactic vaccines to mitigate the evolution and spread of AMR. The ShigaPlexIM consortium, coordinated by European Vaccine Initiative (EVI), brings together European and African partners to advance the early clinical development of an injectable Shigella vaccine providing coverage for Shigella flexneri serotypes 2a, 3a and 6.
This project is part of the EDCTP2 Programme supported by the European Union (RIA2018V-2308)