Highlights of the French Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Project

Thirty-three French laboratories took part in a study to deter mine the frequency of antibiotic resistance to S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis in different regions of the country. A total of 1317 bacterial isolates were studied. The level of resistance to penicillin among isolates of S. pneumoniae was high particularly in children with otitis media or upper respiratory tract infections. In H. influenzae isolates the level of beta-lactamase production was over 30% in all groups of patients and specimen types and in M. catarrhalis the level of beta-lactamase production was in excess of 90%. Multidrug resistance was found often among the macrolides, tetracyclines, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and these antimicrobials should not be regarded as therapeutic alternatives to the beta-lactams. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.