COMPARATIVE IN-VITRO ACTIVITY OF MEROPENEM AGAINST SELECTED PATHOGENSFROM HOSPITALIZED-PATIENTS IN THE NETHERLANDS

Thirty laboratories evaluated the in-vitro activity of meropenem and 1 5 commonly used antibiotics against selected microorganisms isolated i n 1994-95 from hospitalized patients with serious infections requiring antibacterial treatment, Isolates (2169) from blood, sputum, pus or C SF were included, MICs were determined with Etest and NCCLS breakpoint s were used, In general, the MICs of meropenem for Gram-positive isola tes were found to be one- to six-fold higher than those of imipenem, e xcept for Enterococcus faecalis, The MIC90 of meropenem for E. faecali s was high (32 mg/L) and distinctly higher than the MIC90 of imipenem (2 mg/L), The MICs of meropenem for Gram-negative isolates were two- t o 24-fold lower, with the exception of Acinetobacter spp, Gram-negativ e fermentative strains, Enterobacter spp, in particular, isolated from patients in intensive care units (ICU) were more resistant to the -la ctam antibiotics than those isolated from patients in non-intensive ca re wards, However, all Enterobacteriaceae, with and without inducible -lactamases, isolated from ICU patients were susceptible to meropenem.