Trends in antimicrobial susceptibilities among bacterial pathogens isolated from patients hospitalized in European medical centers: 6-year report of the MYSTIC Surveillance Study (1997-2002).

The Meropenem Yearly Susceptibility Test Information Collection (MYSTIC) Program provides antimicrobial susceptibility data. The activity of meropenem and 7 broad-spectrum antimicrobials have been examined against 12645 bacterial isolates from 14 European centers between 1997 and 2002. Cumulative susceptibility rates against all species of Enterobacteriaceae combined were ranked as follows: meropenem (99.9%) > imipenem (97.7%) > ciprofloxacin (86.0%) > piperacillin-tazobactam (85.6%) > ceftazidime (85.4%) > gentamicin (85.4%) > tobramycin (85.0%) > cefotaxime (83.8%). The carbapenems were also found to be the most active of the classes tested against nonfermentative Gram-negative bacilli. Against methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci, all beta-lactams tested (except ceftazidime) had susceptibility rates of > or = 99.0% and > or = 94.3%, respectively. Over the 6-year period, there was no loss of activity or increase in resistance rate for either carbapenem against any of the species tested. These data confirm the continued potency and broad-spectrum activity of meropenem in units where it is actively being prescribed.