A randomized, double-blind trial compared the clinical and bacteriologic efficacy of ampicillin/sulbactam (2 g/1 g) and cefoxitin (2 g) administered intravenously every 6 h to patients with (n=49) or without (n=47) histories of injection drug abuse who presented with cutaneous or other soft-tissue infections. Cure or improvement occurred in 89.8% of ampicillin/sulbactam-treated patients, compar...

Detection of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus is a challenge, especially low-level resistance, which is often misdiagnosed. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracies of the automated Vitek 2 system and disk diffusion tests, using cefoxitin and moxalactam, for the detection of methicillin resistance in S. aureus strains. Four sets of genotypically diverse isol...

Cefoxitin, a semisynthetic cephamycin, has been compared with the widely used parenteral cephalosporin, cephalothin, in terms of antibacterial activity, human pharmacokinetics, and toxicity. For both compounds, minimal inhibitory concentrations were within the therapeutic range against the 156 gram-positive cocci tested (except group D streptococci), but cephalothin was 8 to 20 times more activ...

Escherichia coli is one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections. The most frequent mechanism of resistance to penicillins is the production of the common plasmidmediated TEM-1 -lactamase. Extended-spectrum lactamases of the TEM and SHV families, conferring resistance to newer -lactams such as oxyimino-cephalosporins, have also spread among E. coli clinical isolates. These enzymes are una...

BACKGROUND Cefoxitin is a potent inducer of the mecA gene. It is currently as a screening recommended method for presumptive identification of isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The aim of the study was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of the cefoxitin disc diffusion (30 μg) to oxacillin agar screening from detection of the mecA gene by PCR. METHODS Thre...

Forty-four isolates of Bacillus anthracis made from carcasses and soil in different localities of an endemic anthrax area in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, were tested by standard disc diffusion for their susceptibility to 18 different antibiotics. These were ampicillin, penicillin G, sulphatriad, streptomycin, clindamycin, gentamicin, fusidic acid, trimethoprim, sulphamethoxazole, chl...

Direct inoculation to cefoxitin-cycloserine-fructose agar and broth was compared with alcohol shock-chopped meat broth inoculation for optimal detection of Clostridium difficile in fecal samples. Alcohol shock is significantly more sensitive than cefoxitin-cycloserine-fructose agar or broth and may be the method of choice to detect C. difficile in asymptomatic carriers.

A cefoxitin-based selective broth was evaluated for its efficiency in detecting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by the use of laboratory reference strains, clinical isolates of different clones, and clinical samples. The cefoxitin-based broth was proved to be more sensitive and rapid for the detection of MRSA strains, especially heterogeneously resistant strains, than the oxa...

Staphylococcus aureus strains with resistance to methicillin or oxacillin (MRSA) represent one of the main nosocomial pathogens at present. MRSA infections are clearly associated with higher mortality and economic cost than those caused by methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (1). In Spain, the prevalence of methicillin resistance among S. aureus isolates has increased since the 1990s and in some ...