Antibiotic susceptibility and mechanisms of beta-lactam resistance in 1310 strains of pseudomonas aeruginosa: a French multicentre study (1996).

A total of 1310 consecutive strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were collected in 11 French hospitals in 1996. The percentages of susceptible isolates measured by the agar dilution method were: ticarcillin (53%), piperacillin (69%) (MIC 16 mg/L), ceftazidime (77%), cefepime (55%), cefpirome (40%), aztreonam (57.5%), imipenem (81.5%) (MIC 4 mg/L), amikacin (64.5%) (MIC 8 mg/L) and ciprofloxacin (58%) (MIC 1 mg/L). Resistance to beta-lactams was linked to the production of transferable beta-lactamases (30%), overproduction of cephalosporinase (29%) and to non-enzymic mechanisms (38%).