Survey of Bacteroides fragilis susceptibility patterns in France

The in-vitro activities of 19 antimicrobial agents were determined by an agar dilution technique against 300 isolates of the Bacteroides fragilis group, collected from several French hospitals during 1987 and 1988. Results were compared with data determined for strains isolated in 1977. Amongst beta-lactam antibiotics, amoxycillin + clavulanic and imipenem displayed the best activity, although two strains resistant to both amoxycillin clavulanate and imipenem were obtained in the 1987-1988 survey. Chloramphenicol was invariably active against isolates from both periods. Much more resistance to clindamycin was seen in isolates from the more recent survey. Resistance to 5-nitroimidazoles was not observed in isolates from the 1977 survey but was present in a few isolates from the more recent study.