Monitoring bacterial resistance to restricted antibiotics.

Data on patterns of resistance of eight strains of bacteria toward various restricted antibiotics were collected from 18 public health laboratories in Czechoslovakia. Development of bacterial resistance to gentamicin and colistin did not appear to follow the resistance patterns of bacteria toward more commonly used antibiotics, but there did appear to be a tendency of mutual coresistance to those two drugs in E. coli and Pseudomonas strains. Similarly, oxacillin coresistance was found in lincomycin-resistant staphylococcal strains. Computer-assisted analysis of resistant bacterial strains revealed otherwise-hidden tendencies and mutual relationships among drugs newly marketed in Czechoslovakia.