Antibiotic susceptibilities of 120 strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients at a Children's Hospital. Decline of hospital staphylococci as compared with staphylococci in outpatients. A reversal.

The antibiotic sensitivities of 120 strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from both hospitalized patients and outpatients at Children's Memorial Hospital, Oklahoma City were studied. The proportions of strains resistant to the commonly used antibiotics were considerably lower than that found by other workers in earlier years, except for penicillin G. Of the 120 strains, 98 (81.7%) were resistant to penicillin G, 13 (10.8%) to tetracycline, 9 (7.5%) to erythromycin, and 3 (2.5%) to clindamycin. No strains resistant against cephalothin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, or oxacillin were found. Sixteen strains (13.3%), of which 5 were inpatient strains and 11 were outpatient strains, were found to be resistant to more than one drug. Phage group 1 or type 80/81 staphylococci were not found among multiple resistant strains from hospitalized patients.