Evaluating Azithromycin's Activity Against Acinetobacter baumannii: Susceptibility Testing Needs an Upgrade

Azithromycin demonstrated clinically meaningful activity against many CRAB isolates in vivo; more-extensive study of the treatment of patients with these infections is long overdue.

While antibiotic development has advanced the treatment of infection with multi-drug resistant gram negative (MDR GNR) pathogens, new treatments for carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) have lagged, leaving clinicians with few treatment options. Predicting antibiotic activity in vivo by utilizing standard microbiological susceptibility testing paradigms established long ago has significant shortcomings, especially for assessing the activity of azithromycin (AZM) against many MDR GNR pathogens — including CRAB. Building upon evidence that AZM may exert clinically significant activity against CRAB, Miller et al. performed AZM susceptibility testing in Mueller-Hinton II (MHII) broth compared with RPMI 1640, a bicarbonate-buffere…

Reviewing Author

George Sakoulas, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardParatek Pharmaceuticals; Nestle Corp.; AbbVie; Shionogi

Speaker’s BureauAllergan/AbbVie; Paratek Pharmaceuticals; Nestle Corp.

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsAntimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; Open Forum Infectious Diseases

George Sakoulas, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardParatek Pharmaceuticals; Nestle Corp.; AbbVie; Shionogi

Speaker’s BureauAllergan/AbbVie; Paratek Pharmaceuticals; Nestle Corp.

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsAntimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; Open Forum Infectious Diseases

Evaluating Azithromycin's Activity Against Acinetobacter baumannii: Susceptibility Testing Needs an Upgrade

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Reviewing Author