Antimicrobial susceptibility of anaerobic bacteria in Sweden in 1983.

This review is concerned with anaerobic bacteria and antimicrobial susceptibility. Data on the susceptibility to different antimicrobials of anaerobic isolates in Sweden during 1983 is presented. Among the different bacterial groups, Clostridium perfringens, propionibacteria, anaerobic cocci and curved rods were found to be susceptible to beta-lactam antibiotics, clindamycin and chloramphenicol. C. difficile was susceptible to benzylpenicillin and imipenem, but resistant to cefoxitin. Most C. difficile strains were also susceptible to clindamycin and fusidic acid, while all strains were susceptible to metronidazole and vancomycin. The majority of the fusobacteria were susceptible to beta-lactam antibiotics, clindamycin, metronidazole and chloramphenicol. However, some strains were found to be resistant to penicillins. Against the Bacteroides fragilis group, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, metronidazole and imipenem had the best activity, whereas piperacillin and cefoxitin showed good activities. Most Bacteroides non-fragilis strains were susceptible to the antimicrobials tested. However, an increasing number of isolates were found to be resistant especially to penicillins when comparing with data from the last five years.