--- title: Treatment for Campylobacter Infection date: 2021-01-04T19:43:00-08:00 author: admin canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-treatment" section: Resource Library --- [Foodborne Illnesses](/foodborne-illnesses) / [Campylobacter](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter) / # Treatment for Campylobacter Infection Infection with *Campylobacter* is typically self-limiting and mild, lasting for several days up to two weeks. Even though antimicrobial treatment may reduce the duration of campylobacteriosis by 1-2 days, antibiotics are not appropriate in general to mitigate the symptoms. One major reason is that the worldwide *C. jejuni* strain is showing increasing resistance to macrolide and fluoroquinolone antibiotics, which may lead to reduced effectiveness when needed as first-line and second-line options for the treatment of particularly severe systemic diseases over time. The focus of interventions in healthy patients is hydration and electrolyte repletion. Hydration may be oral or parenteral (i.e., intravenous fluids) depending on the severity of illness and degree of dehydration. Avoidance of anti-motility agents is desirable, as they can delay the resolution of the infection. Although antibiotics are not recommended for otherwise healthy patients, treatment of campylobacteriosis is recommended in patients with severe disease, which includes those with bloody stools, high fever, extraintestinal infection, worsening or relapsing symptoms, or prolonged symptoms that exceed 1 week. It is also recommended for patients with uncomplicated infection who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised, due to their risk of severe disease. The use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics has led to the development of resistance, and a 75-90% prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistance has been reported in clinical *Campylobacter* strains in different countries. Thus, macrolides are now the first-line treatment of human campylobacteriosis. Antibiotic use in farm animals is believed to be the source of resistant strains. *Campylobacter* strains in Canada previously showed an 8.6% resistance to tetracyclines in 1981; this has increased to 56% in more recent studies. While in the early 1990s there was almost no fluoroquinolone resistance described in the literature, more recent data in the United States shows 40% fluoroquinolone resistance at one site in the Pennsylvania region. While resistance to macrolide antibiotics has remained low at 1% to 3% in the United States, there is a concern of the eventual development of resistant strains. Patients failing antibiotics therapy require drug susceptibility testing. The current recommended treatment is an oral antibiotic, predominantly a 3-5 day course of a macrolide antibiotic such as azithromycin. [ Next: The Economic Impact of Campylobacter Infections › ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-economic-impact) ### More information about Campylobacter [January 11, 2022 ###### Preventing Campylobacter Outbreaks: What you need to know Campylobacter jejuni grows poorly on properly refrigerated foods but does survive refrigeration and will grow if contaminated foods are left out at room temperature. The bacterium is sensitive to heat ... ](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/preventing-campylobacter-outbreaks-what-you-need-to-know) [October 28, 2012 ###### The Family Farm Raw Milk Campylobacter Lawsuit – Pennsylvania (2012) The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed at least 80 cases of Campylobacter infections in an outbreak tied to contaminated unpasteurized milk from The Family Cow dairy, located in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. ... ](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/the-family-farm-raw-milk-campylobacter-lawsuit-) [January 01, 2009 ###### Kinikin Dairy Raw Milk Campylobacter Outbreak - Colorado (2009) At least 8 people were sickened with Campylobacter from consuming raw milk produced by the Kinikin Corner Dairy in Montrose, Colorado. The dairy was ordered to stop production of raw ... ](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/kinikin-dairy-raw-milk-campylobacter-colorado) [November 23, 2008 ###### Alexandre EcoDairy Raw Milk Campylobacter Outbreak Lawsuit - California (2008) In the summer of 2008, an outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni in Del Norte County, California (near the Oregon border) that sickened 16 people was traced to Alexandre EcoDairy Farm raw ... ](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/alexandre-ecodairy-campylobacter-outbreak-in-raw-milk) [1. View all ](/news_events/outbreaks?illness=campylobacter&year=all) ## All Campylobacter Resources [###### Campylobacter Food Poisoning ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/about-campylobacter) [###### The Incidence of Campylobacter Infections ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-incidence) [###### The Prevalence of Campylobacter in Food and Elsewhere ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-prevalence) [###### Transmission of Campylobacter jejuni ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-transmission) [###### Symptoms of Campylobacter infection ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-symptoms-risks) [###### Complications of Campylobacter Infection ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-complications) [###### Diagnosis of a Campylobacter Infection ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-diagnosis) [###### Treatment for Campylobacter Infection ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-treatment) [###### The Economic Impact of Campylobacter Infections ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-economic-impact) [###### Real Life Impacts of Campylobacter Infection ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/real-life-impacts-of-campylobacter-infection) [###### Mari Tardiff's Story ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/mari-tardiffs-story) [###### How Can Campylobacter Food Poisoning Be Prevented? ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-prevention) [###### Campylobacter Outbreaks ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-outbreaks) [###### Campylobacter References ](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/campylobacter/campylobacter-references) ### Other foodborne illnesses [E. coli](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli) [Salmonella](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/salmonella) [Listeria](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/listeria) [Hepatitis A](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/hepatitis-a) [Reactive Arthritis](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/reactive-arthritis) [Guillain-Barre Syndrome](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/guillain-barre-syndrome) [Irritable Bowel Syndrome](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/irritable-bowel-syndrome) [Norovirus](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/norovirus) [Botulism](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/botulism) [Shigella](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/shigella) [Cyclospora](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/cyclospora) [Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/hemolytic-uremic-syndrome)