In vitro activity of linezolid and 11 other antimicrobials against 566 clinical isolates and comparison between NCCLS microdilution and Etest methods.

The in vitro activity of linezolid and 11 other antimicrobials was determined for 566 clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus spp., Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis, some of them resistant to several antibiotics, using a broth microdilution method and the Etest method. All Gram-positive organisms tested were inhibited by a concentration of <or=4 mg/L of linezolid, including methicillin-resistant staphylococci, vancomycin- and ampicillin-resistant enterococci, and penicillin-intermediate and -resistant pneumococci. MICs of linezolid by the Etest method were usually one to two dilution values lower than those obtained by microdilution.