[A nationwide survey of antimicrobial susceptibilities of clinical isolates to antibiotics in Japan (1988-1990)].

This study was conducted to investigate susceptibilities of clinical isolates to antibacterial agents at 149 hospitals throughout Japan from September to December in both 1989 and 1990. In this study, identifications and susceptibility testings were carried out at each hospital laboratory. The susceptibility testings were performed according to the disk diffusion method recommended by NCCLS. Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci showed high or moderate resistance rates to beta-lactam antibiotics, but Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae were highly susceptible to them. Enterococcus faecalis was susceptible to imipenem (IPM) and piperacillin but resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics and aminoglycosides. Haemophilus influenzae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis were susceptible to beta-lactam drugs and aminoglycosides. Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens, Proteus vulgaris, Morganella morganii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa had a good susceptibility to IPM and aminoglycosides. Bacteroides fragilis was highly susceptible to IPM. IPM had strong antibacterial activity to many species of clinical isolates, including strains which were resistant to commonly used antibiotics.