Comparison of the in vitro Activities of BB-K8 and Three Other Ammoglycosides against 215 Strains of Pseudomonas and Enterobacteriaceae with Variable Sensitivity to Kanamycin and Gentamicin

Abstract

215 gram-negative bacilli isolated from clinical materials were tested in vitro against BB-K8 by means of disc diffusion and agar dilution tests; the strains included 40 isolates resistant to gentamicin. Approximately 90% of the strains were inhibited by 3.12 μg/ml or less BB-K8. This antibiotic exhibited a comparable activity, although somewhat inferior, to that of gentamicin, against organisms sensitive to gentamicin. It was considerably more active than gentamicin, and comparable to tobramycin, against the isolates of Klebsiella-Enterobacter-Serratia spp. resistant to gentamicin, but less active than tobramycin against 11 strains of Pseudomonas resistant to gentamicin.