Enterobacterial sensitivity to beta-lactam antibiotics]

The susceptibility to betalactams of 868 enteric bacteria isolated from the patients at the hospital was studied. The isolated pathogens included: E. coli (549), Klebsiella sp. (195), Serratia sp. (124). Ampicillin and cefazoline demonstrated the lowest activity. Cefotaxime, ceftazidime and imipenem were active against 90 per cent of isolates. Among E. coli isolates the susceptibility to the above mentioned drugs was the following: 95.1, 96.9, 99.3 per cent, among Klebsiella sp.--89.7, 88.7, 97.9 per cent, among Proteus sp.--89.5, 90.3, 91.9 per cent respectively. Thus cefotaxime may be used in antibacterial empiric therapy if Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection is excluded.