Antibiotic resistance, molecular characterizations, and clinical manifestations of Campylobacteriosis at a military medical center in Hawaii from 2012–2016: a retrospective analysis

Hawaii has one of the highest incidences of Campylobacteriosis in the United States, but there remains little published data on circulating strains or antimicrobial resistance. We characterized 110 clinical Campylobacter isolates (106 C. jejuni, 4 C. coli) processed at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, HI from 2012–2016. Twenty-five percent of C. jejuni isolates exhibited fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance, compared with 16% for tetracycline (TET), and 0% for macrolides. Two of the four C. coli isolates were resistant to FQ, TET, and macrolides. C. jejuni isolates further underwent multilocus sequence typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and molecular capsular typing. Nineteen capsule types were observed, with two capsule types (HS2 and HS9) being associated with FQ resistance (p < 0.001 and p = 0.006, respectively). HS2 FQ-resistant isolates associated with clonal complex 21, possibly indicating clonal spread in FQ resistance. Macrolides should be considered for treatment of suspect cases due to lack of observed resistance.