[Activity of cefuroxime against bacterial strains isolated from acute otitis media].

The acute otitis media is a frequent infantile disease and, in 80% of cases, a bacterial strain can be isolated from the otorrhoea. Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae are the two major species isolated from auricular exudate, and represent two thirds of all isolated strains, with the others comprising Staphylococcus aureus, Branhamella catarrhalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacteriaceae and corynebacteria. The treatment of this disease is based principally on beta-lactams (aminopenicillins, cephalosporins) administered by the oral route. Cefuroxime is a cephalosporin which is absorbed via the digestive tract in the form of cefuroxim-axetil. The activity of this compound was studied against 210 strains isolated from otorrhoea, collected from children who presented an acute otitis media during the first half of 1989. These strains were: 112 strains of H. influenzae, of which 23 produced a beta-lactamase; 21 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae; 3 strains of Streptococcus pyogenes; 10 strains of Branhamella catarrhalis of which 9 produced a beta-lactamase; 18 strains of S. aureus; 14 strains of Enterobacteriaceae, and 32 strains of corynebacteria. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of cefuroxime-axetil was measured by dilution in agar. The MICs of cefuroxime against H. influenzae were low and similar (MIC 50 = 1 mg/l; MIC 90 = 1 mg/l) regardless of whether the strain secreted a beta-lactamase. Overall, 90% and 98% of the 210 strains tested here were inhibited by 1 and 4 mg/l of cefuroxime respectively. These results show that the antibacterial spectrum of cefuroxime-axetil appears to be ideally suited to the bacterial strains isolated from acute otitis media.