Antimicrobial therapy of experimental Legionella micdadei pneumonia in guinea pigs.

Several antimicrobial agents were evaluated for activity against experimental Legionella micdadei pneumonia in guinea pigs. Erythromycin, rifampin, doxycycline, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim produced significant reductions in mortality. Penicillin, cefazolin, cefoxitin, chloramphenicol, and gentamicin were not efficacious even though, at the doses administered, the peak concentrations of these agents in serum substantially exceeded their MICs for the test strain. It is suggested that the poor performance of the latter group of agents resulted from poor penetration into cells in which L. micdadei was multiplying.