The in-vitro activity of trovafloxacin, a new fluoroquinolone, against Gram-positive bacteria

The in-vitro activity of trovafloxacin, a new quinolone, was compared with that of ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, various beta-lactam antibiotics and, where appropriate, clindamycin and vancomycin against a range of Gram-positive bacteria including staphylococci (n = 201), Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 83), beta-haemolytic streptococci (n = 46), viridans group streptococci (n = 100), Streptococcus milleri (n = 18) and enterococci (n = 161) by an agar dilution technique. In addition, time-kill studies were performed to estimate the bactericidal activity of trovafloxacin against S. milleri and viridans group streptococci. Trovafloxacin was the most active agent tested against staphylococci. It also showed good activity, at least four-fold and usually eight- to 16-fold that of ciprofloxacin, against all the streptococci. Trovafloxacin showed good activity against vancomycin-sensitive Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium, but was less active against the 11 isolates of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Trovafloxacin showed comparable or superior bactericidal activity to amoxycillin against the S. milleri and viridans group streptococci tested.