Determination of antimicrobial activity of Cefaclor on common respiratory tract pathogens in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the antimicrobial activity of Cefaclor against common respiratory tract pathogens isolated from patients in Pakistan.

SETTING

Department of Microbiology, Liaquat National Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi.

METHOD

A laboratory analysis was done on 466 isolates of respiratory tract pathogens collected from 13 laboratories from all over Pakistan. Antibiotic sensitivity test was done by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method and MIC of Cefaclor was determined by 'E' test.

RESULT

Of the 163 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 87 Moraxella catarrhalis and 216 Haemophilus influenzae > 95% isolates were susceptible to Cefaclor. The MIC 90 of all these pathogens were < 2 ug.

CONCLUSION

Resistance of respiratory tract pathogens to the 2nd generation Cephalosporin, Cefaclor is very low. MIC 90 of Cefaclor against all three common respiratory tract pathogens is < 2 ug, which indicates that Cefaclor would be effective in more than 90% of cases infected with these bacteria.