Antibiotic susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus in Saigon, South Vietnam

Methicillin resistant staphylococci are unevenly distributed throughout the world; the explanation for this is not known. During a survey of local hospitals for methicillin resistance, a number of strains from South Vietnam became available for study. Tests were performed in microtiter plates using various concentrations of several antibiol. With the larger number of organisms in the inoculum, 17% of strains required 12.5 mug/ml or more of methicillin for inhibition. This is in contrast to a very low percentage of methicillin resistant staphylococci from local sources encountered in our laboratory. An unexpected finding was the occurrence of considerable lincomycin resistance in staphylococci from South Vietnam.