Antibiotic sensitivity of bacterial strains isolated from newborn infants

Abstract

Eighty nine bacterial strains isolated from newborn infants hospitalized at a Special Care Unit in Medellin, Colombia, were studied. The sensitivity of each one was determined by the Minimal inhibitory Concentration method against 21 antibiotics; a high frequency of resistance was found toward gentamycin, netilmycin, oxacillin, penicillin G and ampicillin, that are often employed as initial therapy in newborn infants; on the other hand both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria exhibited high percentages of sensitivity against quinolones; aztreonam and third generation cephalosporins were also highly effective against Gram negative bacilli. On the basis of this new information the need to restate therapeutic conducts in the case of serious bacterial neonatal infections is emphasized.