[Survey of the sensitivities of clinical isolates to antibacterial agents (annual report)].

Research groups were formed in 21 institutions nationwide to investigate carbapenem resistance. The activities of various antibacterial agents, principally carbapenems were tested against clinical isolates collected from these institutions. The broth microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 17 antibacterial agents for 1,282 strains of 11 bacterial species isolated at all institutions between October and December 1995. The results were as follows: 1. Carbapenems exhibited strong antibacterial activities against MSSA and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Their activities against Enterococcus faecalis were comparable to that of ABPC. Carbapenems showed low activities against MRSA. 2. OFLX exhibited the greatest antibacterial activity against Haemophilus influenzae, followed by MEPM. The antibacterial activities of the other carbapenems were comparable to those of FMOX and CTM. 3. The carbapenems showed high activities against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, and Bacteroides fragilis group. Their activities were greater than that exhibited by other beta-lactam antibacterial agents. The carbapenems also exhibited greater antibacterial activities against Serratia marcescens than the other beta-lactam antibacterial agents, but some resistant strains were detected. 4. The antibacterial activities of carbapenems against Pseudomonas aeruginosa were comparable to those of CAZ, AZT, AMK.