Activity of amikacin, erythromycin and doxycyline against Mycobacterium chelonei and Mycobacterium fortuitum.

The activity of amikacin, erythromycin and doxycycline was studied against 18 strains of M. fortuitum and 10 of M. chelonei. The agar dilution technique was used for the evaluation of the minimum inhibitory concentration. Between the three drugs tested, amikacin was the most active, since 66.6% of the M. fortuitum and 80% of M. chelonei strains were inhibited at 12.8 microgram/ml. It is possible that in some circumstances amikacin could be useful in the treatment of infections caused by M. fortuitum or M. chelonei.