[The antibacterial efficacy of cefaclor in routine testing of clinical material from two Berlin hospitals (author's...

The agar diffusion method was used to test the antibacterial efficacy of cefaclor against bacterial strains isolated routinely from patients in two hospitals in Berlin. A comparison was made with the efficacy of oxacillin, azlocillin, amikacin, gentamicin, ampicillin, co-trimoxazole, tetracycline, penicillin, cefazolin, nalidixic acid and nitrofurantoin. A total of 1235 strains of Staphylococcus aureus, enterococci, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Proteus species, Citrobacter and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were tested. Cefaclor was superior to the other substances in its activity against E. coli, Klebsiellae, and Proteus mirabilis. Co-trimoxazole and tetracycline, on the other hand, proved more effective against indole-positive Proteus species and Citrobacter. Tetracycline was also more effective against Enterobacter. Ampicillin was the most effective agent against enterococci, and oxacillin the most effective against S. aureus. Cefaclor showed good antibacterial activity against strains which were resistant to the orally administrable agents ampicillin, tetracycline and co-trimoxazole.