In vitro activity of imipenem was tested against 965 clinical isolates from a major referral center in Saudi Arabia. Many of these strains were highly resistant to commonly used antibiotics, such as ampicillin, cephalosporins, gentamicin, piperacillin, and ticarcillin. All the 727 isolates of Enterobacteriaceae, Acinetobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, enterococci, and other streptococci were susceptible to imipenem. The majority of the strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (95%) and S. epidermidis (90%) were also inhibited. Nine of the 11 isolates of pseudomonads other than P. aeruginosa were resistant to this antibiotic. Imipenem. 1989; 9(3): 272-275 Imipenem (N-formimidoylthienamycin monohydrate) is a new thienamycin antibiotic produced by Streptomyces cattleya. Although it contains a beta-lactam ring, structurally, it is quite distinct from the penicillins, cephalosporins, and cephamycins. This unique structural difference of imipenem is apparently responsible for its having the broadest antimicrobial activity of currently available beta-lactam antibiotics and for its resistance to hydrolysis by chromosomal or plasmid-mediated beta-lactamases.
SM Hussain Qadri, A Al-Hosain, In Vitro Susceptibility of Relatively Resistant Bacteria to