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OPTIMAL ZONE OF METHICILLIN ACTIVITY FOR STAPHYLOCOCCUS EPIDERMIDIS AND ITS ANTAGONISM BY OTHER PENICILLINS AND CEPHALOSPORINS
Author(s) -
Annear D. I.,
Grubb W. B.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1973.tb119696.x
Subject(s) - antagonism , cephalosporin , staphylococcus epidermidis , benzylpenicillin , microbiology and biotechnology , staphylococcus aureus , antibiotics , biology , chemistry , medicine , penicillin , bacteria , receptor , genetics
Batches of methicillin have been shown to vary with respect to the optimal zones of inhibition they show with some strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis. These anomalies may be due to varying amounts of residual benzylpenicillin in the methicillin. Batches of the drug which show the zones poorly or not at all may be rendered “zone‐positive” by treatment with filtrates of penicillinase‐producing cultures of Staph. aureus. The optimal zones are antagonized by a wide range of penicillins and cephalosporins, and these reactions, apart from their Intrinsic interest, may offer sensitive methods for detecting and measuring the antagonists. No marked differences in activity towards organisms other than the isolates of Staph, epidermidis under investigation could be detected among numerous batches of methicillin tested. As yet, no explanation can be offered for either the optimal methicillin zones or their antagonism by other penicillins and cephalosporins.