Comparison of in vitro activities of meropenem productions on Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from hospitalized patients

PURPOSE Antimicrobial activities of meropenem products on Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were determined. METHODS 212 non-duplicated Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were examined for in vitro meropenem susceptibility test by using the following disks, which were made from Meronem (AstraZeneca, UK), Exipenem (Exir, Iran) and Meroxan (DAANA, Iran) powders. MIC50 and MIC90 for meropenem antibiotics were determined. RESULTS Meronem had good activities against most isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae, and only a few strains had a rather high MIC. Exipenem and Meroxan showed a similar activity with Meronem. CONCLUSION Regarding the comparison of two internal generic meropenem products with the external Meronem product have shown that they are equivalents in terms of microbiological activity, as measured using the disk diffusion and MIC. In developing countries, we suggested preparing disks with antibiotic powders that can be an equivalent function in microbiological activity with standard disks. In addition, since it demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity against the Klebsiella pneumoniae. For use of Exipenem and Meroxan in vivo, it would be better to perform additional testing (activity against different species, stability etc.).