ACTIVITY OF AMPICILLIN SULBACTAM, TICARCILLIN/CLAVULANATE, CLARITHROMYCIN, AND 11 OTHER ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS AGAINST ANAEROBIC-BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM INFECTIONS IN CHILDREN/

The activity of 14 antimicrobial agents against 253 clinical isolates of anaerobic bacteria from pediatric infections was assessed by the ag ar dilution method. Fifty-eight percent of the isolates were from intr aabdominal sites. The drugs tested were ampicillin/sulbactam, ticarcil lin/clavulanate, ampicillin, sulbactam, piperacillin, cefoxitin, cefot axime, cefoperazone/sulbactam, clarithromycin, azithromycin, erythromy cin, clindamycin, metronidazole, and chloramphenicol. Ticarcillin/clav ulanate was active against an isolates. Clarithromycin was the most ac tive macrolide; combination of this agent with its 14-hydroxy metaboli te did not result in synergy. Sixty-two percent of Bacteroides fragili s group isolates, 13% of B. fragilis isolates, and 22% of peptostrepto coccal isolates were resistant to clindamycin at a concentration of 4 mu g/mL. The distribution of these strains in clinical specimens and t he patterns of antimicrobial susceptibility documented were different from the findings for isolates from adults in the Los Angeles area,