Comparative activities of cefepime and piperacillin/tazobactam tested against a global collection of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. with an ESBL phenotype

Cefepime exhibits more stability to hydrolysis by extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) compared with other cephalosporins, and piperacillin/tazobactam may be active against these pathogens because of the enzyme inhibitory activity of tazobactam. Thus, we evaluated the in vitro activity of these 2 antimicrobials against a large collection of isolates with an ESBL phenotype. A total of 50,637 clinical isolates (34,367 Escherichia coli and 16,270 Klebsiella spp.) collected from more than 80 medical centers (1998–2004) were tested by reference broth microdilution methods, and isolates with an ESBL phenotype (MIC, ≥2 μg/mL for aztreonam or ceftazidime or ceftriaxone) were submitted to a clavulanate inhibition test (confirmation of ESBL production). Among isolates from North America, 3.9% of E. coli and 8.6% of Klebsiella spp. showed an ESBL phenotype, whereas among isolates from the rest of the world (ROW) (Europe, Latin America, and Asia), 7.7% of E. coli and 28.3% of Klebsiella spp. exhibited this pattern. Confirmation rates varied from 21.6% of E. coli in North America to 52.8% of Klebsiella spp. in the row Among E. coli from North America, cefepime (90.3% susceptibility) was generally more active than piperacillin/tazobactam (82.7%), especially among ESBL-not-confirmed (97.0% versus 85.5%). Cefepime also showed reasonable activity against Klebsiella spp. from North America (89.4% susceptibility). In general, isolates from North America exhibited higher susceptibility rates to both β-lactams compared with isolates from the ROW, and ESBL-not-confirmed strains showed generally higher susceptibility rates than ESBL-confirmed organisms.