Listeria's sensitivity to modern antibiotics

Listeriosis is one of the serious complications in patients receiving anti-tumor therapy. American researchers retrospectively assessed the antimicrobial susceptibility (AMP) of 84 strains of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from patients.

Listeria has been isolated from blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Sensitivity was studied by the disc diffusion method using the NCCLS criteria. The re-identification and determination of the serotype was carried out at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

From 1995 to 1997 the sensitivity to antibiotics did not change and rose to: penicillin 97.6%, ampicillin 90.7%, erythromycin 98.8%, tetracycline 96.9% and gentamicin 98.0%. All strains tested were susceptible to amikacin, ciprofloxacin, imipenem, rifampicin, trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole and vancomycin. High activity against listeria has shown carbapenems. Surprisingly high resistance to clindamycin was found (96.2%).

The combination of ampicillin and gentamicin was the standard treatment for systemic listeriosis. Trimethoprim / sulfamethoxazole can be used to treat listeriosis in patients with intolerance to beta-lactam antibiotics.

New fluoroquinolones, such as levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, etc., were active against more than 99.9% of the strains. However, additional clinical trials are needed to make recommendations on the routine use of fluoroquinolones in the treatment of listeriosis.