Antibiotic susceptibility of Streptococcus bovis and other group D streptococci causing endocarditis.

Seventy-four strains of Streptococcus bovis and 35 strains of enterococci (Streptococcus faecalis and its varieties, Streptococcus faecium and Streptococcus durans), most of which were isolated from patients with endocarditis, were tested for their susceptibility to penicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, cephalothin, vancomycin, methicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, streptomycin, and gentamicin. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were determined by a microtiter broth dilution technique. All of these organisms are group D streptococci, but the S. bovis strains are not enterococci. On the basis of both MIC and MBC, the S. bovis strains were much more susceptibile in general to antibiotics then were the enterococcal strains. For the S. bovis strains, the lowest MICs were obtained with penicillin, ampicillin, and erythromycin, and the lowest MBCs with penicillin and ampicillin. Although these antibiotics were also the most active against the enterococci, the MICs and MBCs were much higher than obtained with the S. bovis strains. Gentamicin was the most active aminoglycoside. On the basis of in vitro susceptibility results, the S. bovis strains resemble the viridans streptococci rather than enterococci.