[Azlocillin plus amikacin: an alternative therapy for sepsis caused by resistant staphylococci?].

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of combined therapy with azlocillin and amikacin in a group of neonates with sepsis caused by multiresistant staphylococci who were hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of Hospital Ginecobstétrico "America Arias" in Havana, Cuba, from 1998 to 2000.

Methods: A retrospective study was carried out of the clinical and laboratory results obtained in 15 patients with sepsis caused by multiresistant staphylococci who received combined therapy with azlocillin and amikacin, according to hospital guidelines on the use of antibiotics. We used a broth microdilution method to study the patterns of resistance shown by isolated strains to 10 of the antibiotics in use.

[Resistance to antimicrobials and combination therapy assessment in neonatal sepsis].

Objectives: To estimate antibiotic resistance among bacterial strains isolated from patients with neonatal sepsis from January 1994 through December 1998, and to assess the predictive value of the checkerboard method for selecting treatment with combination antibiotic therapy in seriously ill patients.

Methods: The study of strain susceptibility was carried out by microdilution in broth, and the checkerboard method in broth trays was used to assess the efficacy of antibiotic combination therapy.

Results: Fifty per cent of the strains of coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp.