In vitro activity of gemifloxacin against contemporary clinical bacterial isolates from eleven North American medical centers, and assessment of disk diffusion test interpretive criteria.
A total of 5499 contemporary clinical bacterial isolates were tested for susceptibility to gemifloxacin and four comparison agents by the broth microdilution method. Gemifloxacin activity against Enterobacteriaceae was generally comparable to that of ciprofloxacin and trovafloxacin, but because the gemifloxacin susceptible MIC breakpoint is lower, the percent susceptible to gemifloxacin was less than that to the other quinolones for some species. All agents were less active against Pseudomonas spp. Gemifloxacin was the most active agent tested against Gram-positive species, though Corynebacterium jeikeium and vancomycin-resistant enterococci were uniformly resistant to all agents tested. With staphylococci, a bimodal distribution of gemifloxacin MICs corresponded with susceptibility or resistance to ciprofloxacin. The significance of ciprofloxacin-resistant staphylococci that have susceptible gemifloxacin MICs is not known at this time. Disk diffusion tests were performed simultaneously with gemifloxacin and trovafloxacin as a control drug. Gemifloxacin MIC-zone diameter scattergrams indicated that interpretive discrepancy rates based on previously proposed criteria when using < or = 0.5 microg/ml as the susceptible MIC breakpoint was within acceptable limits. However, with the currently proposed MIC breakpoint of < or = 0.25 microg/ml, tentative zone diameter breakpoints of > or = 22 mm for susceptible, 19-21 mm for intermediate and < or = 18 mm for resistant are proposed.
Fuchs
P C
PC
The Clinical Microbiology Institute, 9725 SW Commerce Circle, Wilsonville, OR 97070, USA. cmi@hevanet.com
Barry
A L
AL
Brown
S D
SD
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D000077735:Gemifloxacin; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D009287:Naphthyridines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009656:North America; D011786:Quality Control
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D009287:Naphthyridines; D000077735:Gemifloxacin