ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF A CARBAPENEM ANTIBIOTIC, BIAPENEM (L-627), AGAINST PENICILLIN-RESISTANT STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE

Abstract

Antibiotic susceptibilities were evaluated for 48 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae collected in 1992-1993 at Ichihara City of Chiba Prefecture. Twenty two (46%) of the 48 strains were benzylpenicillin (PCG) insensitive or resistant (PRSP) judged from the MICs of PCG to higher than 0.1μg/ml. MICs of piperacillin and cefotaxime increased as the MICs of PCG increased. However, elevations of MICs of imipenem and biapenem (L-627) were small in spite of the increases of MICs of PCG.
L-627 was effective in a case of purulent meningitis due to PC-insensitive S. pneumoniae. Thus, L-627 is a candidate to be used in treatment of PRSP infections including purulent meningitis.