Surveillance of clinical isolate sensitivity of cefepime

Change in the sensitivity of clinical isolates to cefepime (CFPM) and injectable cephalosporin was studied by collecting samples in a survey over 3 successive periods. In the first survey, 20 species including 597 strains were isolated from clinical materials during 3 months from May to July 1996. Twenty species including 523 strains were collected during 5 months from May to September 1998 in the second survey, and 20 species including 551 strains were collected in 12 months from January 2000 to January 2001 in the third survey. MIC distributions of cefepime and other tested drugs in each test strain isolated in the third survey should tends similar to those in test strains isolated in the first and 2 surveys. MIC₉₀ of tested drugs in Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae were higher in the third survey than in the first 2 surveys. The antibacterial activity of each drug to gram-negative bacteria in the third survey was equivalent to those in the first 2 surveys. Several strains of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae had MIC of 100 μg/mL for ceftazidime in the second or third survey. Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were susceptible to cefepime, cefozopran, ceftazidime and imipenem/cilastatin. These were same in all surveys. An imipenem/cilastatin and other drug-resistant strain was isolated from Serratia marcescens in the first survey. The susceptibility of strains against tested antibiotics showed no change in any survey. CFPM has low selection in drug resistance because it has potent antibacterial activity against gram-positive and negative bacteria and is stable in β-lactamase produced from various species.