Susceptibility of enterobacteria to antibiotics. A 1997 study in northern Lebanon.

Objective - The purpose of this study was to assess the epidemiology of ent erobacteriacae sensitivity to antibiotics. Method - Between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 1997, the sensitivity of 774 enterobacteria to 29 antibiotic molecules was studied in northern Leban on. We used the diffusion disk method according to guidelines of the French Committee for Antibiogram. Results - Urinary samples were the most frequent (63.8%), followed by blood culture (15.1%), and pus (10.3%). S. typhi was the dominant species in blo od culture (53.9%). The global sensitivity of strains to aminopenicillin re ached 26.7% whereas 50.1% of the strains were susceptible to the associatio n amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. The susceptibility to other molecules was as follows. ticarcillin 34.5%, piperacillin 48.7%, piperacillin-tazobactam 88 .7%, imipenem 99%, cefalexin 64.6%, cefoxitin 79%, cefuroxime 81%, cefotaxi me 90.9%, ceftazidime 90.9%, aztreonam 90.3%, gentamicin 88.1%, tobramycin 87.2%, amikacine 94.8%, neomycin 52.2%, chloramphenicol 51.5%, tetracycline 43.2%, minocycline 43.6%, colistin 87.9%, nitrofurane 81.1%, trimethoprime -sulfamethoxazole 51.4%, pipemidic acid 70.8%, pefloxacin 77.8%, ofloxacine 77.8%, and norfloxacine 76.5%. All strains of S. typhi were susceptible to all antibiotics tested. (C) 1999 Elsevier, Paris.