title: In vitro activity of linezolid and other antibiotics against Gram-positive bacteria from the major teaching hospitals in Kuwait.
abstract: Multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria are an increasingly pressing problem in the clinic. Consequently, linezolid, a recently introduced oxazolidinone with Gram-positive activity, was tested in comparison with 10 other antibiotics against 8103 clinically significant Gram-positive cocci by Etest, disk diffusion and Vitek methods. Linezolid demonstrated excellent activities against all isolates. Vancomycin and teicoplanin demonstrated equally excellent activity against almost all isolates. The methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains were all susceptible to the glycopeptides and linezolid, but resistant to erythromycin (96%), fusidic acid (91.5%), gentamicin (84%) and clindamycin (73%). Forty one and 39% of the Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates were resistant to penicillin (MIC >0.5 microg/ml) and erythromycin (MIC >1 microg/ml), respectively. S. agalactiae susceptibility was 9% and 10% resistant to clindamycin and erythromycin, respectively. In conclusion, all the Gram-positive isolates tested were susceptible to linezolid. With its oral bioavailability profiles, it obviously holds great promise. Our data should be a useful addition to the literature from the Middle East.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Al Sweih
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mokaddas
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jamal
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: V O
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Rotimi
mesh_terms: D000081:Acetamides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D000069349:Linezolid; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D023303:Oxazolidinones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D000081:Acetamides; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023303:Oxazolidinones; D000069349:Linezolid