Multicentre evaluation of the in vitro activity of linezolid in the Western Pacific

• Published in: Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy 2003-02, Vol.51 (2), p.339-345
• Main Authors: Bell, Jan M., Turnidge, John D., Ballow, Charles H., Jones, Ronald N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetamides - pharmacology; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibacterial agents; Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents; Australia - epidemiology; Biological and medical sciences; Data Collection; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Enterococcus faecalis - drug effects; Enterococcus faecium - drug effects; Far East - epidemiology; Gram-Positive Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections - epidemiology; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections - microbiology; Linezolid; Medical sciences; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Oxazolidinones - pharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Streptococcus pneumoniae - drug effects; Western Pacific region; ZAPS
• ISSN: 0305-7453; 1460-2091; 1460-2091
• DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkg074

Multiresistance to antimicrobial agents is common in staphylococci and pneumococci isolates in the Western Pacific region. The activity of linezolid, a new oxazolidinone, was evaluated against a spectrum of Gram-positive species collected in the region. Eighteen laboratories from six countries in the Western Pacific examined the linezolid susceptibility of 2143 clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and Enterococcus spp. using broth microdilution or disc diffusion methodology. For Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 351) and other streptococci (n = 83), Etest (AB Biodisk, Solna, Sweden) strips were used. Results were compared with other common and important antimicrobials. Linezolid-resistant strains were not detected among streptococci or staphylococci, including a significant proportion of S. aureus strains that were multiresistant. Almost all enterococci, including 14 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, were linezolid susceptible. A small proportion of enterococci (0.8%) were intermediate to linezolid, and one strain of Enterococcus faecalis had a zone diameter of 20 mm (resistant). The linezolid MIC ranges (MIC90) of those strains tested by broth microdilution or Etest were: 1–4 mg/L (2 mg/L) for S. aureus, 0.5–4 mg/L (2 mg/L) for CoNS, 0.5–4 mg/L (2 mg/L) for Enterococcus spp., 0.12–2 mg/L (1 mg/L) for S. pneumoniae and 0.25–2 mg/L (1 mg/L) for Streptococcus spp. There was no difference in linezolid susceptibility between countries or between multiresistant and susceptible strains of each species monitored.