Bacteriostatic and bactericidal activities of 24 antimicrobial agents against Campylobacter fetus subsp. jejuni.

The bacteriostatic and bactericidal activities of 24 antimicrobial agents were tested with the Dynatech MIC 2000 system against 86 strains of Campylobacter fetus subsp. jejuni from human sources. The penicillins (penicillin G, ampicillin, amoxycillin, carbenicillin) had poor activity. Ampicillin and amoxycillin were equally active. Cefotaxime revealed a rather good activity. Erythromycin, gentamicin, tobramycin, amikacin, and furazolidone were the most active compounds. Two strains (2.3%) were resistant to erythromycin. One strain (1.2%) was completely resistant to tobramycin. The tetracyclines (tetracyline, doxycycline, minocycline) were generally effective, but 8% of the strains were totally resistant to them. Minocycline was the most active. Chloramphenicol, thiamphenicol, and clindamycin had good activity. The bacteriostatic and bactericidal distributions for colistin, nalidixic acid, and metronidazole were broad.