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. 1991 Sep;35(9):1911–1913. doi: 10.1128/aac.35.9.1911

Emergence of quinolone resistance among clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Ontario, Canada.

N Harnett 1, S Brown 1, C Krishnan 1
PMCID: PMC245290  PMID: 1952866

Abstract

One hundred two isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) randomly selected from across the Canadian province of Ontario were tested for their susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, and nalidixic acid by the agar dilution method. Forty-nine percent (50 of 102) had high levels of resistance to these quinolone compounds. For the 50 resistant isolates, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin had high MICs for 90% of isolates (MIC90s) of 128 micrograms/ml and greater than 128 microgram/ml, respectively; for these isolates, the nalidixic acid MIC90 was greater than 640 micrograms/ml. The majority (98%) of the 50 isolates were also resistant to tobramycin (MIC90, greater than 128 micrograms/ml), while 42% of the isolates were resistant to gentamicin (MIC90, 64 micrograms/ml). Quinolone-resistant MRSA isolates were susceptible to bacteriophages from several groups, indicating independent selection of resistant strains. These results suggest that a reappraisal of the use of fluoroquinolones against MRSA in Canada is necessary.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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