In vitro activity of cefditoren and other comparators against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis causing community-acquired respiratory tract infections in China

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro activity of cefditoren and comparators against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis causing community-acquired respiratory tract infections (CARTIs). A total of 391 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 266 H. influenzae, and 76 M. catarrhalis were isolated from 10 centers located at 6 cities in China from January 2009 to May 2010. The microdilution method was used to determine minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). The pneumococci comprised 189 (48.3%) penicillin susceptible, 129 (33.0%) penicillin intermediate, and 73 (18.7%) penicillin resistant. Moxifloxacin and levofloxacin showed the highest activity (99.2% and 97.7%, respectively) against Streptococcus pneumoniae, followed by parenteral penicillin G (95.7%), cefditoren (83.1%) and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (79.3%). Among the 266 H. influenzae isolates, 26 (9.8%) were ampicillin-resistant β-lactamase-producing strains and 24 (9.0%) were ampicillin-resistant β-lactamase-nonproducing strains (BLNAR). Most of antimicrobial agents demonstrated good activity (>97% susceptibility) against H. influenzae except ampicillin, cefuroxime, and cefaclor, which showed relatively lower activity (81.2%, 88.7%, and 88%, respectively). Cefditoren showed excellent activity with the lowest MIC(50) and MIC(90) (≤0.016/0.064 μg/mL) among all tested drugs, which is independent of β-lactamase production or ampicillin resistance. Cefditoren at a concentration of 0.5 μg/mL inhibited all BLNAR strains. Seventy of 76 isolates of M. catarrhalis produced β-lactamase. Cefditoren also showed excellent activity with MIC(90) of 0.064 μg/mL against β-lactamase-nonproducing strains and 0.5 μg/mL against β-lactamase-producing strains. In conclusion, the excellent intrinsic activity of cefditoren suggests that it may be a good choice for the treatment of CARTIs caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, H. influenzae, and M. catarrhalis in China, while the activity should be closely monitored.