Pseudomonas aeruginosa and beta-lactam antibiotics at the time of Europe

Breakpoints harmonization concerning six European committees is being conducted within the European Committee for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing for a few years and is now finalized for beta-lactam antibiotics. This article describes the impact of breakpoint modifications on percentage of susceptibility of P. aeruginosa to beta-lactams in comparison with previous French National Committee breakpoints (CA-SFM). This harmonization leads to the need for new recommendations about diameter breakpoints and for updating breakpoints in antibiotic susceptibility testing automated devices. Moreover, it points out the importance of MICs and quantitative diameter data in order to follow the evolution of antibiotic susceptibility. (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits reserves.