In vitro Activities of Meropenem and Other Antimicrobial Agents against British Meningococcal Isolates

Abstract

The in vitro activity of meropenem was compared with those of penicillin, ampicillin, cefuroxime, cetriaxone, cefotaxime, rifampicin, chloramphenicol, sulphadiazine and ciprofloxacin against 121 British meningococcal isolates by a microdilution method in Mueller-Hinton broth and by the E test. All meningococcal strains were susceptible to the agents except for ampicillin (88.4%), penicillin (88.4%), sulphadiazine (57.9%) and rifampicin (95%). The emergence of resistance problems among meningococcal isolates stresses the need for their constant monitoring and of the development of new agents. In this study we have shown that meropenem is highly active in vitro against Neisseria meningitidis. Recent studies have indicated that meropenem is highly active clinically and bacteriologically in the treatment of bacterial meningitis. Thus, the potentials of meropenem as meningococcal prophylactic and therapeutic agent needs to be fully evaluated.

Outbreak of meningococcal disease in and around New Delhi, India, 2005–2006: a report from a tertiary care hospital

“…In most of these reports few isolates of the bacterium have been studied and the clinical response to therapy was considered as adequate for detecting susceptibility. Penicillin has traditionally been recognized as the antibiotic of choice but in recent years reports of resistance of meningococci to penicillin have been noted, although the frequency with which such resistant isolates are found varies widely [29][30][31][32].…”

Multidrug-resistant pathogens: Mechanisms of resistance and epidemiology

“…There is evidence that these chromosomal alterations have been transferred among N. meningitidis serogroups and among other Neisseria species [26]. In one British study [27], 42% of meningococcal isolates were resistant to sulfadiazine.…”

“…In 1997, active population-based surveillance in the United States found approximately 3% of clinical isolates to be of intermediate resistance; this value had not increased since 1991 [29]. High-level chloramphenicol resistance (MIC 64 µg/ml) was described recently in Vietnam and France [30]; in one European study, the prevalence of isolates resistant to rifampin was reported as 5% [27]; in the US, the prevalence has been reported to be 3% [29].…”