[The drug resistance and DNA plasmid profiles of Shigella dysenteriae 1 in the USSR and abroad].

The medicinal resistance and plasmid profiles of 62 S. dysenteriae strains 1, isolated in the USSR in 1986-1988 from Soviet and foreign citizens (from Afghanistan, Vietnam) and 8 strains obtained from India in 1987 were studied. Pronounced similarity between the phenotypes of medicinal, including conjugative, resistance in the strains of Soviet and foreign origin was established. In the Soviet S. dysenteriae strains 1 the presence of two main types of plasmid DNA profiles (140, 6, 4, 2 MD and 140, 35, 6, 2 MD), similar to those in the strains of Afghan and Indian origin, was shown. In the Vietnamese strain the plasmid DNA profile was found to be quite different (70, 35, 6, 2 MD). Similarity between the phenotypes of medicinal resistance and the plasmid DNA profiles in the Soviet, Afghan and Indian strains under study indicated that the intensive and permanent penetration of the infective agents of Grigor'ev-Shiga dysentery from Afghanistan to the territory of the USSR, especially to Uzbekistan, occurred during the period of the stay of Soviet troops in Afghanistan.