Antimicrobial resistance and resistance transfer in anaerobic. A review.

A changing antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of anaerobic bacteria has been noted over the past decade. This paper reviews the mechanisms by which these organisms have become resistant to the selected antibiotics and reviews recent data demonstrating that anaerobic bacteria possess systems for transferring resistance determinants. Within Bacteroides there is widespread resistance to penicillins, cephalosporins and tetracycline compounds while there have been sporadic reports of resistance to clindamycin, cefoxitin, chloramphenicol and metronidazole. Transfer of resistance to penicillin, tetracycline and clindamycin has been demonstrated.