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Antimicrobial resistance of the genera proteus, providencia and serratia with special reference to multiple resistance patterns

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Summary

The generaProteus, Providencia, andSerratia are known to have consistently shown resistance to one or several of the following antimicrobials: the polymyxins, ampicillin, the cephalosporins, the tetracyclines, and nitrofurantoin. Resistance to other drugs is erratic. In an attempt to investigate the diagnostic possibilities of resistance to colistin, ampicillin, cephalothin, tetracycline, and nitrofurantoin, 1364 strains of the above genera were scanned. The study revealed, however, that resistance to a drug was practically never found in 100% of the strains of a species, and that species-specific patterns could not be demonstrated. Furthermore, R factors could spread to hitherto sensitive strains. Thus, it is unlikely that resistance patterns could do more for the diagnosis of these genera than suggest or exclude, on the basis of statistical evidence, the presence of certain species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, USA

    Alexander von Graevenitz & Mahmoud Nourbakhsh

  2. Clinical Microbiology Laboratories, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Conn., USA

    Alexander von Graevenitz & Mahmoud Nourbakhsh

Authors
  1. Alexander von Graevenitz
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  2. Mahmoud Nourbakhsh
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von Graevenitz, A., Nourbakhsh, M. Antimicrobial resistance of the genera proteus, providencia and serratia with special reference to multiple resistance patterns. Med Microbiol Immunol 157, 142–148 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02124474

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02124474

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