Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of beta-lactam antibiotics by Etest against clinical isolates from 100 medical centers in Japan (2004).

This antimicrobial resistance surveillance study was performed in 100 medical centers. The susceptibility of 9347 strains including Escherichia coli (997 strains), Klebsiella spp. (997 strains), Enterobacter spp. (988 strains), Citrobacter spp. (834 strains), indole-positive Proteae spp. (855 strains), Serratia spp. (925 strains), Acinetobacter spp. (902 strains), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (996 strains), oxacillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (992 strains), and coagulase-negative staphylococci (861 strains) to 7 beta-lactam antibiotics, cefepime, cefpirome, ceftazidime, cefoperazone/sulbactam, imipenem and piperacillin (for gram negatives), or oxacillin (for gram positives) was tested. No strain resistant to these beta-lactams except for ceftazidime was found in oxacillin-susceptible S. aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci. E. coli (16.5%) clinical isolates were resistant to piperacillin, whereas 1.5% or less (cefpirome = 1.5%) was resistant to other beta-lactams. Klebsiella spp. strains were more susceptible to imipenem (99.7%), cefepime (98.4%), and cefpirome (97.3%). Isolates of Enterobacter spp., Citrobacter spp., indole-positive Proteae, and Serratia spp. were susceptible to imipenem, cefepime, and cefpirome, as well. Acinetobacter spp. strains were most susceptible to cefoperazone/sulbactam (0.8% resistance), imipenem (3.2%), ceftazidime (6.0%), and cefepime (7.0%) than other beta-lactam antibiotics tested. Isolates of P. aeruginosa were more susceptible to ceftazidime (9.9% resistance), cefoperazone/sulbactam (14.9%), and cefepime (11.2%) than piperacillin (15.5%), cefpirome (19.1%), and imipenem (19.3%). The percentage of imipenem-resistant P. aeruginosa is around 20% in clinical isolates in Japan.