[The antimicrobial activity of amikacin in comparison with three other aminoglycoside-antibiotics (author's transl)].

We report about the in-vitro-sensitivity tests of 1756 Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas strains to amikacin, gentamicin, tobramycin and sisomicin. It was established, that amikacin is more effective than gentamicin, tobramycin and sisomicin in case of infections with Klebsiella, Proteus species, Psuedomonas strains and Enterobacter. The four aminoglycosides are well active against E. coli. Hospital acquired infections with Serratia are a domain of amikacin. Tobramycin is more effective than gentamicin and sisomicin against Pseudomonas infections. Amikacin is the drug of choice against gentamicin-resistent strains, which are also not infrequently resistant to other aminoglycosides. Resistance to gentamicin-tobramycin and gentamicin-tobramycin-sisomicin, is most frequent among Klebsiella strains. The cross-resistance rate is considerably higher among Enterobacteriaceae strains than among Pseudomonas species. The lowest rate of resistance (2.1%) and the high antimicrobial activity are the considerable advantages of amikacin.