Antimicrobial activity of antituberculosis agents against anaerobic bacteria.

Anaerobic infections may coexist with tuberculosis, and can be mistaken for one another. The effect of therapy with antituberculosis chemotherapeutic agents against anaerobic bacteria (with the exception of rifampin) is unknown. We therefore examined the in vitro efficacy of certain commonly used antituberculosis agents (rifampin, isoniazid, and ethambutol) against 370 strains of anaerobic bacteria, including 86 isolates of Bacteroides fragilis. Rifampin at a concentration of 2 microgram/ml inhibited 91 percent of all anaerobic isolates. Both ethambutol and isoniazid were totally ineffective against any of the anaerobes tested, even at 64 microgram/ml. Therapy with rifampin in an unsuspected anaerobic infection can be misdiagnosed for tuberculosis. Therefore, when tuberculosis is suspected, isoniazid and ethambutol can be used and rifampin withheld until the acid-fast bacilli are demonstrated by additional diagnostic procedures, such as transtracheal aspiration.