Sensitivity to sparfloxacin and other antibiotics, of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis strains isolated from adult patients with community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections: a European multicentre study. SPAR Study Group. Surveillance Programme of Antibiotic Resistance

A survey of resistance to sparfloxacin was carried out in ten European countries, namely Slovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Respiratory samples were collected from 4297 patients with lower respiratory tract infections and cultured for the presence of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis. Altogether 2101 strains were isolated and tested for their susceptibility to sparfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, tetracycline and penicillin G (S. pneumoniae) or amoxycillin (H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis). Each country tested strains using methods commonly used in that country, and with breakpoints selected based on those used in that country. Penicillin resistance in pneumococci was seen in those countries in which it had been reported previously, namely Spain, France and Hungary. Only four strains of pneumococci were resistant to sparfloxacin (MIC > or = 2 mg/L), while ciprofloxacin-resistant strains were isolated more frequently, particularly in the Republic of Ireland and Hungary. Almost all of the strains of H. influenzae tested were resistant to erythromycin, (MIC50 > or = 4 mg/L), but all strains were highly sensitive to sparfloxacin (MIC90 < or = 0.06 mg/L). The number of strains of H. influenzae producing beta-lactamase varied between countries, whereas most strains of M. catarrhalis produced beta-lactamase. In M. catarrhalis, erythromycin and tetracycline resistance was rare, but sensitivity to amoxycillin varied. Sparfloxacin was particularly active against H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis, and was the most active compound tested. Overall, the activity of sparfloxacin was greater than that of ciprofloxacin against all three pathogens, and resistance to it was rare.