Pseudomonas pseudomallei, a common pathogen in Thailand that is resistant to the bactericidal effects of many antibiotics.

The purpose of this investigation was to identify newer antimicrobial agents that may be useful in the therapy of melioidosis. The in vitro susceptibilities of 199 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas pseudomallei to 22 antibiotics were determined by standard disk diffusion, and those to 13 antibiotics were determined by agar dilution. Over 90% of the isolates were susceptible to imipenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, piperacillin, ceftazidime, ticarcillin-clavulanate, ampicillin-sulbactam, and carumonam by both methods. Standard disk diffusion yielded unacceptably high false-susceptibility results with aztreonam, ciprofloxacin, and temafloxacin. Piperacillin, ceftazidime, imipenem, and ciprofloxacin were not bactericidal for three selected P. pseudomallei strains as determined by time-kill curve methods. Furthermore, addition of ciprofloxacin to piperacillin, ceftazidime, or imipenem did not enhance bactericidal activity. One hundred ninety-four strains showed weak beta-lactamase production that did not increase upon incubation with cefoxitin. These findings suggest that several newer antimicrobial agents may prove useful in the treatment of melioidosis. However, results of susceptibility studies involving P. pseudomallei and newer agents must be interpreted with caution.