COMPARATIVE ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF CEFTIBUTEN AGAINST MULTIPLY-RESISTANT MICROORGANISMS FROM BELGIUM

To study the activity of ceftibuten, we obtained multiply-resistant isolates from approximately 20 hospitals in Belgium. Against Enterobacteriaceae, all of the tested comparative compounds were more active than cefaclor, and ceftibuten and tigemonaum were the most active of the agents tested. Ceftibuten MIC50s were less-than-or-equal-to 1-mu-g/ml for most enteric bacilli species and 85% of strains were susceptible (less-than-or-equal-to 8-mu-g/ml). This level of activity compared favorably to that of recorded for cefaclor (less-than-or-equal-to 8-mu-g/ml), cefetamet (less-than-or-equal-to 4-mu-g/ml), and cefteram (less-than-or-equal-to 1-mu-g/ml), that is, 37%, 69%, and 59%, respectively. Ceftibuten, cefetamet, cefteram, and tigemonam were highly active against isolates of Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. None of the comparative agents were as active as cefaclor against staphylococcal isolates. Against streptococci, cefteram was the most active, and tigemonam the least active of the agents. The MIC90s of ceftibuten for strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes were 2-mu-g/ml and 0.5-mu-g/ml, respectively. Strains of Streptococcus agalactiae were resistant to both ceftibuten and tigemonam; cefaclor and cefteram inhibited 100% of isolates of this species. Strains of Enterococus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were consistently resistant to all of the compounds. Overall, ceftibuten exhibited potent activity against many multiply-resistant clinical isolates.