title: In vitro susceptibility of viridans group streptococci isolated from blood in southwest Finland in 1993-2004.
abstract: We studied in vitro activity against invasive viridans group streptococci (VGS) of penicillin and 4 newer antibiotics, i.e. telithromycin, linezolid, levofloxacin and quinupristin-dalfopristin. Also 7 other antibiotics were tested. Antibiotic susceptibility of 263 VGS blood isolates, collected from southwest Finland during a 12-y period was determined. We wished to discover whether there is an increasing trend of antimicrobial resistance among VGS in Finland. Our results showed that penicillin is still a good choice for treating VGS infections based on the considerably low resistance percentage, 2.3%. Also newer antibiotics showed good in vitro activity: susceptibilities for telithromycin, linezolid and levofloxacin were 100%, 98.9% and 94.6%, respectively. However, quinupristin-dalfopristin was not as effective as described in previous studies, with only 57% susceptibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacterial and Inflammatory Diseases, National Public Health Institute, Turku, Finland. marianne.lindgren@ktl.fi
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindgren
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jalava
authors.forename: Kaisu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rantakokko-Jalava
authors.forename: Olli
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Meurman
mesh_terms: D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods; D052978:Disk Diffusion Antimicrobial Tests / Q000379:methods; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D034363:Viridans Streptococci / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification