STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS SENSITIVITY TO VARIOUS ANTIBIOTICS - A NATIONALSURVEY IN IRELAND 1993

The sensitivity of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) to methicillin, p enicillin, gentamicin, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, fusidic acid and m upirocin was tested in 1152 clinical isolates from nine hospital micro biology departments. In all cases standard methods for culture and sen sitivity were employed using either the Stokes' or a modified Stokes' method for susceptibility testing, The isolates were recovered from 11 50 patients (606 men, 544 women; mean age: 41 years) and only those de emed relevant to the patient's clinical condition were included, Of th e total 1152 isolates, 454 were regarded as hospital acquired, 506 wer e community acquired and the source of the remaining 192 isolates was unknown, The overall percentages of S. aureus sensitive to the tested antibiotics were as follows: methicillin 85%, penicillin 8%, gentamici n 89%, ciprofloxacin 85%, erythromycin 80%, fusidic acid 96%, mupiroci n 98%. The sensitivity of the methicillin resistant strains to the oth er antibiotics tested was generally low except for fusidic acid and mu pirocin, both of which retain good activity against methicillin resist ant S. aureus (MRSA).