title: Susceptibility of Escherichia coli to the amoxycillin-clavulanate combination: which recommendations should be used to provide relevant information to clinicians?
abstract: This study compared MIC distributions of amoxycillin-clavulanate obtained with NCCLS and French (Comite de l'Antibiogramme de la Societe Francaise de Microbiologie; CA-SFM) methodologies for Escherichia coli isolates from urine that were non-susceptible to amoxycillin-clavulanate by the disk diffusion method. With the NCCLS and CA-SFM methods, 74% and 13%, respectively, of these isolates were susceptible to amoxycillin-clavulanate. Therefore, the apparent relatively poor efficacy of amoxycillin-clavulanate against E. coli in French hospitals probably reflects a methodological difference rather than a localised resistance problem. This implies that amoxycillin-clavulanate could be used as an alternative to fluoroquinolones for treatment of E. coli urinary tract infections. Susceptibility tests for amoxycillin-clavulanate should be standardised worldwide.
authors.affiliation: Service de Bacteriologie, Hospitalière et d'Epidemiologie Moleculaire, CHU 25030 Besançon, France.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Patry
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hocquet
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Talon
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Plesiat
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bertrand
mesh_terms: D019980:Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D019980:Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination