Susceptibility of antibiotic-susceptible and antibiotic-resistant hospital bacteria to disinfectants.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether hospital strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria exhibited altered susceptibility to disinfectants.


METHODS
Antibiotic-susceptible bacteria were obtained from American Type Culture Collection: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella choleraesuis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Hospital strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria were obtained from clinical isolates, including: S aureus, S epidermidis, E coli, Enterococcus species, K pneumoniae, and P aeruginosa. The Association of Official Analytical Chemist's use-dilution method was used to test these 12 strains of 7 bacterial pathogens for their susceptibility to a phenol and a quaternary ammonium compound. For five pathogens, we tested a susceptible and a more resistant strain in 20 comparative trials (5 pathogens, 2 disinfectants, 2 dilutions per disinfectant).


RESULTS
In our 20 comparative trials, the antibiotic-resistant strains exhibited an increased resistance to the disinfectant in only a single instance.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data demonstrate that the development of antibiotic resistance does not appear to be correlated to increased resistance to disinfectants.
Rutala
W A
WA
Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, USA.
Stiegel
M M
MM
Sarubbi
F A
FA
Weber
D J
DJ
D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009657:North Carolina; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*
D004202:Disinfectants; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds