AWARE Ceftaroline Surveillance Program (2008-2010): trends in resistance patterns among Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis in the United States.

Ceftaroline fosamil, the prodrug form of the active metabolite ceftaroline, is a new broad-spectrum parenteral cephalosporin with antibacterial activity against the prevalent respiratory pathogens Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Staphylococcus aureus. Bacterial resistance surveillance (5330 isolates) was conducted in the United States between 2008 and 2010 to assess the in vitro activity of ceftaroline and comparator antibacterial agents against invasive respiratory isolates of S. pneumoniae (3329 isolates), H. influenzae (1545 isolates), and M. catarrhalis (456 isolates). All organisms were cultured from patient infections in 71 US hospital laboratories and were submitted to a central reference monitor for broth microdilution testing by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute reference methods. Against S. pneumoniae, ceftaroline inhibited 98.7% of strains at the susceptible breakpoint of ≤ 0.25 µg/mL (50% minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC(50)], 0.01 µg/mL; 90% MIC [MIC(90)], 0.12 µg/mL) and was 16-fold more active than ceftriaxone (MIC(90), 2 µg/mL). Among 70 ceftriaxone-resistant pneumococcal isolates, all were inhibited by ≤ 0.5 µg/mL of ceftaroline. Haemophilus influenzae (MIC(50), ≤ 0.008 µg/mL; MIC(90), 0.015 µg/mL) and M. catarrhalis (MIC(50), 0.06 µg/mL; MIC(90), 0.12 µg/mL) were very susceptible to ceftaroline regardless of β-lactamase production. Whereas the high-level of activity of ceftaroline was maintained against S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae from 2008 through 2010, increased rates of nonsusceptibility were observed for amoxicillin/clavulanate, erythromycin, and levofloxacin among S. pneumoniae and for trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and azithromycin among H. influenzae. In summary, ceftaroline resistance surveillance (Assessing Worldwide Antimicrobial Resistance Evaluation [AWARE] Program) in the United States (2008-2010) documented in vitro sustained potency and spectrum against Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens known to cause community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.