[Compared antibacterial activity of a new fluoroquinolone, sparfloxacin (AT 4140, RP 64206) and four other fluoroquinolones against 332 strains of enteropathogen bacteria].

The in vitro bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity of five fluoroquinolones--sparfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, lomefloxacin and pefloxacin--was tested against 332 strains of enteric pathogens belonging to the genera Salmonella, Shigella, Escherichia, Yersinia, Vibrio, Campylobacter and Helicobacter. Some of the strains were resistant to one or several antibiotics. Each fluoroquinolone showed identical bacteriostatic activity against susceptible and resistant strains except of those resistant to nalidixic acid. MIC 90% were always below 1 mg/l. The MIC were lowest with ciprofloxacin followed by sparfloxacin and highest with pefloxacin. The five compounds showed different activity against nalidixic acid resistant strains: MIC 90% increased from 0.06 to 4 mg/l for Salmonella, from 0.5 to 4 mg/l for C. jejuni strains, from 0.12 to 16 mg/l for H. pylori strains. All strains remained susceptible to ciprofloxacin and sparfloxacin, but some were intermediate or resistant to the three other compounds. The minimal bactericidal concentrations of the five agents against the nalidixic acid susceptible or resistant strains were one or two times the corresponding MIC.