Quinolone-resistant Campylobacter Infections: Risk Factors and Clinical Consequences

We integrated data on quinolone and macrolide susceptibility patterns with epidemiologic and typing data from Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli infections in two Danish counties. The mean duration of illness was longer for 86 patients with quinolone-resistant C. jejuni infections (median 13.2 days) than for 381 patients with quinolone-sensitive C. jejuni infections (median 10.3 days, p = 0.001). Foreign travel, eating fresh poultry other than chicken and turkey, and swimming were associated with increased risk for quinolone-resistant C. jejuni infection. Eating fresh chicken (of presumably Danish origin) was associated with a decreased risk. Typing data showed an association between strains from retail food products and broiler chickens and quinolone-sensitive domestically acquired C. jejuni infections. An association between treatment with a fluoroquinolone before stool-specimen collection and having a quinolone-resistant C. jejuni infection was not observed.