[Sensitivity of anaerobic bacteria to therapeutic agents (Zurich 1984)]

There are several reports in the literature on resistance of anaerobic bacteria against antimicrobial agents. Therefore, 231 anaerobic strains of various bacterial genera, isolated from clinical specimens during fall 1984, were tested for susceptibility to antimicrobial agents active against anaerobic bacteria. Whereas 23% of the Bacteroides species not belonging to the B. fragilis group were resistant to penicillin, the anaerobic bacteria were still susceptible to chloramphenicol, clindamycin and the nitroimidazoles. The resistance rate against the various new beta-lactam antibiotics was comparable to results of other studies. Due to the increasing resistance it is recommended that the susceptibility of clinically important anaerobes be tested by appropriate techniques. The agar diffusion test must not be used due to unreliable results. Instead, the minimal inhibitory concentration should be determined or the "broth-disk" test performed.