SURVEY OF ANAEROBIC SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERNS - A FRENCH MULTICENTER STUDY

In 1996, the in vitro antibiotic susceptibility of 463 anaerobes was m easured in five hospitals using the reference agar dilution method. No ne of the 209 B. fragilis group strains showed resistance to imipenem or ticarcillin-clavulanic acid. High resistance rates (29%) were obser ved for cefotetan and clindamycin. beta-Lactamase production was detec ted respectively in 64% of the Prevotella and 7% of the Fusabacterium strains. Because the same standardized methods were used for many year s, the authors were able to evaluate the evolution of antibiotic resis tance. Clindamycin resistance had increased within the B. fragilis gro up (from 14% in 1992 to 29% in 1996) and also among strains of clostri dia (32%), P. acnes (18%) and Peptostreptococcus (28%). In the B. frag ilis group multidrug resistance was unlikely to occur. (C) 1998 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.