Resistance to antimicrobial agents of common bacteria isolated from Taiwan

Antimicrobial susceptibility of 11 commonly seen and/or important pathogenic bacteria isolated from the National Taiwan University Hospital in 1981 and 1992 was analysed. Oxacillin-resistance was most remarkable in Staphylococcus aureus. Its prevalence increased rapidly from 6.7% in 1981 to 49.7% in 1992. A high proportion of oxacillin-resistance was also found in coagulase-negative staphylococci, both in 1981 and in 1992. For Streptococcus pneumoniae, no penicillin-resistant nor erythromycin-resistant strain was found in 1981, but by 1992, 5.8% of the isolates were penicillin-resistant 42.3% erythromycin-resistant. Gentamicin-resistance was the most common problem in enterococci, with 70.6% resistance in 1992. As to Gram-negative bacteria, Enterobacter spp. demonstrated a high proportion of resistance to various antimicrobial agents: more than 72% susceptibility was found only for amikacin. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also a highly resistant bacterium, with only 50 to 90% of susceptibility to various antipseudomonal agents. In Haemophilus influenzae, both ampicillin-resistance and chloramphenicol-resistance were remarkable, with 52.2% and 32.9% resistance, respectively, in 1992.