Antibiotic resistance of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strains isolated from patients treated in intensive care units.

The distribution according to specimens and susceptibility to antimicrobial agents of 481 Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strains isolated from patients treated in intensive care units were studied. They occurred most frequently in tracheal specimens and pus. Using disk diffusion test the strains proved to be multiple resistant to ampicillin (86.3%), azlocillin (86.7%), mezlocillin (84.0%), cefamandole (99.7%), cefoxitin (94.1%), cefuroxime (90.6%), cefoperazone (84.9%), cefotaxime (82.0%), ceftriaxone (81.0%), tobramycin (71.2%), gentamicin (86.2%), chloramphenicol (90.5%) and tetracycline (89.8%). Based on the lowest incidence of resistant strains imipenem (0%), netilmicin (2.6%), amikacin (4.9%), ampicillin+sulbactam (8.9%), amoxicillin+clavulanic acid (29.4%), pefloxacin (26.2%), ciprofloxacin (30.1%), ofloxacin (34.3%), cotrimoxazole (41.6%), carbenicillin (41.2%) or ceftazidime (55.4%) may be the drug of choice in nosocomial A. calcoaceticus infections.