Emergence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacilli Causing Bacteremia During Therapy

Treatment of serious infections caused by gram-negative bacilli with beta-lactam antimicrobial agents can induce Class I beta-lactamase production. This phenomenon can result in resistant microorganisms, and has been postulated to be a cause of therapeutic failure. The charts of patients bacteremic with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Enterobacter cloacae, Citrobacter freundii, Proteus vulgaris, and Providencia species (n = 120) during a 3-year period were reviewed to determine how common the emergence of resistance was, and to determine if in vitro susceptibility testing was a reliable therapeutic guide. Emergence of resistance was believed to occur when a subsequent bacteremic isolate showed at least a fourfold increase in minimum inhibitory concentration accompanied by a change of interpretive susceptibility category. In the group of patients who survived at least 48 hours that received beta-lactam therapy (n = 76), one case of emergence of resistance was identified (1.3%). Emergence of resistance to beta-lactam antimicrobial agents did not commonly cause therapeutic failure at our institution, and susceptibility testing of gram-negative bacilli by usual methods was a reliable guide to antimicrobial therapy.