Comparative evaluation of the in vitro activity of three combinations of ß-Lactamase inhibitors: piperacillin/tazobactam, ticarcillin/clavulanic acid and amplicillin/sulbactam

Recently, two new combinations of ß-lactam antibiotics with ß-lactamase inhibitors become commercially avaiable in Brazil: piperacillin/tazobactam and ampicillin/sulbactam. This study was designed to assess and compare the in-vitro activity of theses new compounds, as well as that of ticarcillin/clavulanic acid, against bacteria isolated in our environment. A total of 749 bacteria isolated at São Paulo Hospital were tested using the disk diffusion method, in compliance with NCCLS Standardization, using strict quality control. Only one sample per patient was included in the study. Oxacillin-resistant staphylococcus samples were not included in this study. Of the total samples tested 84.5 percent were susceptible to piperacillin/tazobactam, 81.2 percent to ticarcillin/clavulanic acid, and 77.6 percent to ampicillin/sulbactam. Piperacillin/tazobactam was also found to be the most active combination of the three against Enterobacteriaceae (n=312), inhibiting 91.7 percent of the bacteria tested. Ticarcillin/clavulanic acid was active against 85.8 percent of the Enterobacteriaceae, while ampicillin/sulbactam inhibited 83.2 percent of the samples...

La neumonía atípica por Legionella pneumophila: informe del segundo caso en México / Atypical pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila: second case report in Mexico

En 1977 se informó de 34 muertes por neumonía en 221 asistentes a la Convención de la Legión Americana en Filadelfia. El agente causal fue identificado y llamado Legionella pneumophila. La legionellosis es una enfermedad de distribución mundial, pero en México sólo hay un caso informado, posiblemente por no considerarse en el diagnóstico diferencial de las neumonías adquiridas en la comunidad. Informamos el caso de una paciente previamente sana en la que se diagnosticó una neumonía secundaria a Legionella pneumophila