Antibacterial resistance of community-acquired respiratory tract pathogens recovered from patients in Germany and activity of the ketolide telithromycin: Results from the PROTEKT surveillance study (1999-2000)

Background: The Prospective Resistant Organism Tracking and Epidemiology for the Ketolide Telithromycin (PROTEKT) longitudinal global surveillance study examines the antibacterial susceptibility of community-acquired respiratory pathogens. Methods and Results: Data from isolates collected in Germany in 1999-2000 in the PROTEKT study show that 8.3% of pneumococcal isolates (n=325) had reduced susceptibility to penicillin and 2.2% were fully resistant. Erythromycin resistance was 15.7% overall and particularly high in Leipzig (31.6%). All penicillin- and erythromycin-resistant strains were inhibited by telithromycin (MICless than or equal to0.5 mg/l) and linezolid (MICless than or equal to2 mg/l). beta-Lactamase was produced by 3.2% of Haemophilus influenzae (9/284) and 89.5% of Moraxella catarrhalis strains (111/124). All Streptococcus pyogenes isolates (n=87) were susceptible to penicillin, although 9.2% were resistant to macrolides. Conclusions: Penicillin resistance in Germany remains low; however, the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among common respiratory pathogens is rising, particularly against macrolides. Continued surveillance is necessary to guide optimal empirical therapy, and new antimicrobials, like telithromycin, need to be developed with improved potency against target pathogens and low propensity for the development of resistance. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel.