Campylobacter and appendicular syndrome: Report of 6 cases

Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix and is a medical emergency، that many people could be infected. Many factors among them causes appendicitis. Bacterial infection of gastrointestinal tract plays a major role and Campylobacter is the most important in causing appendicitis. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Campylobacter in suspected samples of appendicitis. This is a descriptive study. In a period of one year، 216 samples of appendicitis tissues were investigated. The samples first cultured in enrichment medium (thioglycolate pH=8. 5) for 24 hours، and then were cultured in charcoal blood containing cefoperazone and amphotericin-B (Biomerieux) antibiotics. The cultures were incubated at microaerophilic conditions at 42 C for 48 hours. The Campylobacter stains appeared S shaped on culture. The gram stain، motility، oxidase، and hippurate hydrolysis were carried out on the colonies for the identifications. Out of 216 tested samples، five were identified as Campylobacter jejuni، and one as Campylobacter coli. The resistance antibiotic patterns showed high level of resistance to tetracycline and nalidixic acid. The results of this study showed that in case of suspected appendicitis، more attention should be paid to microbial cause especially Campylobacter strains.