Antibiotic susceptibility patterns of respiratory isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae in Europe and the USA in 1992 and 1993. The Alexander Project Collaborative Group.

The overall antibiotic susceptibility of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates collected in 1992 (n = 35) and 1993 (n = 85) was highly variable ranging from 0.8% for amoxycillin to 95.8% for ceftriaxone. On a weight for weight basis, the activity of the compounds decreased in the following sequence: ceftriaxone, cefixime, co-trimoxazole, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, cefaclor, amoxycillin/clavulanate, doxycycline, cefuroxime, chloramphenicol, amoxycillin. A small percentage of resistant strains was found for each of the compounds (between 0.8% for ceftriaxone and 12.5% for chloramphenicol) with the exception of amoxycillin which was almost uniformly resistant. There was a trend for the percentage of resistant strains to increase between the two study years for all compounds except for chloramphenicol. Resistance to beta-lactams in France and the USA is likely to have been due to strains producing extended spectrum beta-lactamases.