In vitro activity of carbenicillin against gram-negative bacilli.

The activity of a new semisynthetic penicillin, carbenicillin, was determined against 241 strains of gram-negative bacilli with the tube-dilution technique. Of 143 strains of Pseudomonas sp., 99 had a minimal inhibitory concentration of 200 to 300 mug/ml. The majority of strains of Escherichia coli and Proteus spp. were sensitive to this antibiotic, with minimal inhibitory concentrations of 25 mug/ml or less. Strains of Klebsiella sp. were quite resistant to carbenicillin. The size of inoculum had no significant effect on the minimal inhibitory concentration for Pseudomonas sp.