ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF CLINICAL ISOLATES OF ACINETOBACTER-BAUMANNII

The in-vitro activity of 18 antimicrobial agents alone or in combinati on against 248 clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii from Taiwa n were tested by agar dilution. The MIC(90)s of ampicillin, amoxicilli n, piperacillin, cefuroxime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, gentamicin, and amikacin were at least 128 mu g/ml. Ceftazidime, cefepime, sulbactam, clavulanic acid, and tazobactam presented moderate activity with MIC(9 0)s of 32, 16, 16, 32, and 32 mu g/ml, respectively. The increased act ivity of ampicillin/sulbactam, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, and Pipera cillin/tazobactam tons due to the intrinsic effect of sulbactam, clavu lanic acid, and tazobactam, respectively. Imipenem, meropenem, and cip rofloxacin were the most active antimicrobial agents with MIC(90)s of 1, 1, and 0.5 mu g/ml, respectively. Nineteen isolates (7.7%) were res istant to all aminoglycosides and beta-lactam antibiotics, except carb apenems and ciprofloxacin. We are concerned about the multidrug resist ance of A. baumannii in this study.