A national collaborative study of resistance to antimicrobial agents in Haemophilus influenzae in Australian hospitals. The Australian Group for Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR).

An Australia-wide survey of the prevalence of resistance to antimicrobial agents among Haemophilus influenzae was conducted on clinically significant isolates collected between July 1988 and September 1990. Laboratories from the capital cities of each Australian state and territory participated. Nine hundred and seventy clinical isolates were examined for beta-lactamase production and the MICs of ampicillin, coamoxiclav, chloramphenicol, cefaclor, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, tetracycline, rifampicin, trimethoprim, sulphamethoxazole and co-trimoxazole were determined using the NCCLS agar dilution method with Haemophilus Test Medium. A smaller number of isolates were tested against penicillin V, penicillin G, ciprofloxacin, piperacillin and erythromycin in addition. The proportion of beta-lactamase producing strains was higher among invasive strains (21.6%) than non-invasive strains (14.2%) and varies considerably between states. The highest prevalence of ampicillin resistance was found in invasive strains from Canberra (40.8%), the lowest in non-invasive strains from Adelaide (5.1%). Paradoxically, in non-invasive strains, although beta-lactamase production was less common, resistance to other antimicrobials was commoner than in invasive strains and also varied between states.