Frequency of occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial pathogens associated with skin and soft tissue infections during 1997 from an international surveillance programme

The SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme was established to provide a coordinated, standardised, international surveillance on antimicrobial resistance. In one part of the programme, isolates from skin and soft tissue infections sent from 20 hospitals in 12 different European countries were investigated in the European coordinating centre. Of 1013 isolates, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the most significant species, constituting almost 50% of the referred isolates. Methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus averaged 22% across Europe, only slightly less than that in isolates derived from blood. Less than 5% of the enterococcal isolates were resistant to vancomycin, Piperacillin/tazobactam was the most active penicillin-derived p-lactam compound against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, inhibiting 91.3% of the isolates, while ceftazidime and cefepime were the most active cephalosporins, inhibiting 85.8% and 80.3% of the isolates, respectively. Putative extended-spectrum beta-lactamase production was not detected in Escherichia coli and was found in only 5.1% of the Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. In general, strains of the family Enterobacteriaceae remained mostly susceptible to carbapenems, cefepime, and amikacin.