In-vitro activity of cefepime and seven other antimicrobial agents against 1518 non-fermentative Gram-negative bacilli collected from 48 Canadian health care facilities. Canadian Afermenter Study Group.

Non-fermentative bacilli are primarily nosocomial pathogens, and are also often resistant in vitro to a broad range of antimicrobial agents. In this large Canadian study, we collected 1466 clinical, non-repeat isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 21 of Acinetobacter spp. and 31 Stenotrophomas maltophilia. MICs of eight antibiotics were determined by the NCCLS microdilution method in a central laboratory. Tobramycin was the most active agent against P. aeruginosa (94.5% susceptible); amikacin and imipenem were the most active against Acetinobacter spp. (100%) and ceftazidime was the most active against S. maltophilia (40.6%). Against each group of isolates, cefepime was active against 87, 86.4 and 15.6%, respectively. This in-vitro study showed that cefepime may be a useful additional agent in the treatment of infections caused by P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp., but not when S. maltophilia is considered pathogenic.