EVALUATION OF THE IN-VITRO ACTIVITY OF CEFEPIME COMPARED TO OTHER BROAD-SPECTRUM CEPHALOSPORINS AGAINST CLINICAL ISOLATES FROM 18 BRAZILIANHOSPITALS BY USING THE ETEST
Hs. Sader et al., EVALUATION OF THE IN-VITRO ACTIVITY OF CEFEPIME COMPARED TO OTHER BROAD-SPECTRUM CEPHALOSPORINS AGAINST CLINICAL ISOLATES FROM 18 BRAZILIANHOSPITALS BY USING THE ETEST, Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease, 28(2), 1997, pp. 87-92
The in vitro activity of cefepime was compared to that of ceftazidime,
ceftriaxone, and cefotaxime in a multicenter study involving 10 clini
cal microbiology laboratories and clinical isolates from 18 Brazilian
hospitals from 7 cities (4 states). A total of 982 isolates consecutiv
ely collected between December 1995 and March 1996 were susceptibility
tested by using Etest and following the NCCLS procedures for agar dif
fusion tests. The cefepime spectrum was broader than that of the other
broad-spectrum cephalosporins against both Gram-negative rods and Gra
m-positive cocci. Cefepime tons particularly move active against Enter
obacter sp. (MIC90, 2 mu g/ml), Serratia sp. (MIC90, 2 mu g/ml) and ox
acillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MIC90, 3 mu g/ml). Against
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, cefepime (MIC90 16 mu g/ml) was slightly more
active than ceftazidime (MIC90 32 mu g/ml) and 8- to 16-fold more acti
ve than ceftriaxone or cefotaxime (MIC90 >256 mu g/ml). Our results sh
ow that nosocomial bacteria, especially Gram-negative rods, have a hig
h rate of cephalosporin resistance in Brazil. However, part of these r
esistant bacteria remains susceptible to cefepime. The Etest was shown
to be an excellent method for multicenter studies of the in vitro eva
luation of new antimicrobial agents. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.