Prevalence of macrolide resistance and in vitro activities of six antimicrobial agents against clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae from a multi-center surveillance in Malaysia.

The in vitro activities of 6 antimicrobial agents against clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococci) were investigated and the erythromycin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were correlated with the two major macrolide resistance determinants, mef(A) and erm(B). MICs of commonly used antibiotics as well as the presence of macrolide resistance determinant genes in all isolates were tested. Seventy one pneumococcal isolates collected at Institute for Medical Research (IMR) were included in this study.