Bacteriology of the marine environment: implications for clinical therapy

Ocean water and tissue samples were obtained from a variety of sources with phylogenetic and geographic diversity. Purified bacterial colonies were isolated and identification procedures were performed. A total of 67 isolates were recovered. Thirty-eight isolates belonged to the genus Vibrio and included six species. Twenty-four non-fermentative bacteria and four Gram-positive isolates were recovered. Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed that while the non-fermentative marine bacteria generally were susceptible to the antibiotics tested, marine Vibrio species were relatively resistant to a wide variety of antimicrobials. Antibiotics effective against all species included imipenem, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and chloramphenicol. Further recommendations for treatment are based on sensitivity in culture. Some isolates failed to grow in the medium used for susceptibility testing. Because commercial test kits may not yield accurate identifications of bacteria, the acquisition of antimicrobial susceptibility data gains added importance.