Susceptibility of clinical isolates of gram-positive and gram-negative organisms to cefatrizine.

The in vitro activity of cefatrizine was evaluated against 294 Gram-positive and 270 Gram-negative bacteria isolated from clinical specimens. Cefatrizine had excellent activity against Gram-positive cocci, inhibiting all except enterococci at minimal inhibitory concentrations below 1 mcg/ml. Moreover, cefatrizine was an effective antibacterial agent for most major Gram-negative species. Cefatrizine activity was tested against 34 strains of H. influenzae and 37 strains of K. pneumoniae and compared with that of other orally administered cephalosporins. Cefatrizine MIC50 values were much lower than those recorded for cephalexin and cefadroxil.