Abstract

Background. Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease caused by Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae), is an endemic disease and a major public health problem in Iran. Antibiotic therapy can decrease duration of the disease, transmission of infection and contamination of the environment. Considering different pattern of V. cholerae antibiotic resistance around the world, the aim of the current systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the prevalence of antibiotic resistance of V. cholerae in Iran. Methods. A systematic review of the literature was performed using related keywords in the electronic national and international databases including SID, Irandoc, Iran Medex and Magiran as well as PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and ISI web of knowledge. Up to July 31, 2018, 27 eligible papers were included in our meta-analysis based on the defined inclusion criteria. Results. V. cholerae O1 was the most prevalent strain isolated in Iran and exhibited a high resistance rate against numerous antibiotics including chloramphenicol (33.6), oxytetracycline (40.2), trimethoprim/ sulphamethoxazole (86), tetracycline (34.5), furazolidone (69.8), streptomycin (93.8), polymyxin (80.7), ampicillin (32.1), nalidixic acid (88.9), kanamycin (29) and amoxicillin (30.5). Conclusion. According to the meta-analysis results, antibiotic therapy with ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, erythromycin, gentamicin, azithromycin, cefixime and cefepime could be effective for the treatment of severe cases of cholera in Iran.