[Antibacterial activities of fosfomycin against several fresh clinical isolates--comparison of the test methods for antibacterial activity].

In vitro antibacterial activity of fosfomycin was evaluated by various methods. Strains of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-sensitive coagulase-negative Staphylococci and Escherichia coli were much more susceptible when glucose-6-phosphate was added to the test medium, but strains of Serratia marcescens and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were not affected. Nutrient agar instead of Mueller-Hinton agar allowed to exhibiting the higher activity of fosfomycin against all the species tested. The activity of fosfomycin was as equivalent or superior to those of cefazolin, cefmetazole, cefotiam and piperacillin. The susceptibility of strains isolated during 2000 to 2001 to fosfomycin was almost the same as that of the isolates reported in 1975. Fosfomycin was considered to show high efficacy in several infections, since it has maintained its favorable antibacterial activities against several bacterial species for more than 20 years after the first application to clinical practice.