[In vitro study of strains of Staphylococcus: choice of an antibiotic].

The aim of this study is to determine the best antibiotic in presumptive staphylococcal infection and/or bacteriologically established staphylococcal infection before results of antibiotic sensitivity tests are available. 382 strains were analyzed. Only sensitivity or resistance to antibiotics were considered. Vancomycin is the best antistaphylococcal agent (3% resistance rate on the 382 strains), (11% resistance rate on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains). Pristinamycin and Virginiamycin also yield excellent scores but are less efficient against Methicillin-resistant staphylococci (21%). Cefalotin is still an excellent antistaphylococcal agent (7%). Fosfomycin is especially valuable against polyresistant staphylococci, with a 26% resistance rate on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Lastly, significant increases in resistance rates relative to 1966 staphylococci strains are found only for penicillin (68% versus 78%) and rifamycin (3.6% versus 8%).