Activity of oral antibiotics against respiratory tract pathogens in Spain

The aim of this study was to carry out a nationwide survey to assess the susceptibility of clinical isolates of four respiratory pathogens against nine antibiotics. Eight Spanish centers participated in the study, collecting a total of 977 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis. The susceptibility of S. pneumoniae to penicillin was 37.46% susceptible, 30.43% intermediate and 32.11% resistant. MIC(90) of all antibiotics against this microorganism were 48 mg/l, except cefaclor, cefixime and azithromycin. For S. pyogenes, all the strains were susceptible to penicillins and cephalosporins, and azithromycin was the least active with a rate of resistance of 11.43%. A total of 95 isolates of H. influenzae were betalactamase positive (26.32%). With regard to M. catarrhalis, only penicillin and amoxicillin showed MICs(90) >=8 mg/l.