Multicenter surveillance of antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis in Taiwan during the 1998-1999 respiratory season.

A susceptibility surveillance study of 276 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, 301 of Haemophilus influenzae, and 110 of Moraxella catarrhalis was carried out from November 1998 to May 1999 in Taiwan. High rates of nonsusceptibility to penicillin (76%), extended-spectrum cephalosporins (56%), azithromycin (94%), clarithromycin (95%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) (65%) for S. pneumoniae isolates and high rates of nonsusceptibility to amoxicillin (58%) and TMP-SMX (52%) for H. influenzae isolates were found. Higher percentages of S. pneumoniae isolates nonsusceptible to aminopenicillins, extended-spectrum cephalosporins, macrolides, and TMP-SMX were observed among penicillin-intermediate and -resistant isolates. All quinolones tested were active in vitro against these three organisms.