Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of contemporary pathogens from uncomplicated urinary tract infections isolated in a multicenter Italian survey: possible impact on guidelines.

During 2004 four Italian Laboratories assessed the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among uropathogens causing acute uncomplicated cystitis in female out-patients. A total of 600 urine samples from individuals aged 18-65 were studied. The overall prevalence of Escherichia coli was 85.3%. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus faecalis and other rarer species were far less represented. Determination of the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the entire collection of E. coli (512 organisms) revealed that among the drugs analyzed ampicillin was the least active molecule with only 62.5% of the strains being inhibited. Amoxicillin-clavulanate and cefuroxime displayed a higher potency (87.7% and 89.2% respectively). Cotrimoxazole inhibited only 70.1% of the uropathogens. The three fluoquinolones tested had comparable activity ranging from 83.0% for ciprofloxacin, to 83.6% for levofloxacin and 84.9% for prulifloxacin, indicating an identical spectrum of cross resistance. Nitrofurantoin (96.7%) and fosfomycin (98.6%) were the most potent drugs. Against the whole collection of uropathogens, only cefuroxime, nitrofurantoin and fosfomycin overcame the threshold of 90% activity, with the fluoroquinolones and amoxicillin-clavulanate suffering from about 15% resistance. The results of this survey strongly support the conclusions of recent Italian guidelines concerning the best empiric treatment of UTI in this country today.