Efficacy of cefcanel on staphylocci

The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of cefcanel, a new oral cephalosporin, has been tested against 153 staphylococci subdivided into the species Staphylococcus aureus. S. epidermidis sensu lato and S. saprophyticus, with and without beta-lactamase production. The concentration inhibiting 50% of the strains was 0.5 mg/l for all three species while the corresponding values for 90% of the strains were 1, 2 and 1 mg/l, respectively. These values apply to all the strains. The MICs of the non-beta-lactamase-producing strains were identical to the MICs of the beta-lactamase-producing strains for S. aureus, three twofold steps lower for S. epidermidis and one step higher for S. saprophyticus. Consequently, beta-lactamase production had no consistent consequences for the activity of cefcanel against S. aureus and S. saprophyticus. In contrast, the beta-lactamase production of S. epidermidis did influence the activity of cefcanel. Among the tested cephalosporins, cefcanel had the highest antistaphylococcal activity, and no strain was resistant to this new cephalosporin.