[Development and current status of Pseudomonas aeruginosa sensitivity to antibiotics].

The response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to antibacterial drugs is remarkably stable and is characterized by multiresistance. This organism is uniformly resistant to ampicillins, first and second generation cephalosporins and kanamycin and most often resistant to streptomycin, tetracyclines, chloramphenicol, nalidixic acid, sulphonamides, co-trimoxazole and nitrofurans. Very few of the conventional antibiotics are active against Pseudomonas spp.: polymyxin is virtually always active in vitro but gives disappointing therapeutic results; little change has been observed over years in the incidence of strains resistant to carbenicillin and to some aminoglycosides, such as gentamicin, tobramycin and amikacin. Recently developed antibacterial agents of the beta-lactam and quinolone groups offer hopes of better therapeutic effectiveness. Among beta-lactam antibiotics, new penicillins, including azlocillin, are more active than carbenicillin and some third generation cephalosporins, notably cefoperazone, cefsulodin and ceftazidime, also show anti-Pseudomonas activity. The same applies to new beta-lactam antibiotics with a novel structure, such as thienamycins and monobactams. Several new quinolones are active in vitro against Ps. aeruginosa; these are rosoxacin, norfloxacin, enoxacin, pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin.