Antimicrobial Activity of Ceftolozane–Tazobactam Tested against Contemporary (2012–2016) Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates by US Census Division

BACKGROUND: Ceftolozane-tazobactam (C-T) is a combination of a novel antipseudomonal cephalosporin and a well-described β-lactamase inhibitor. C-T was approved by the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration in 2014 for complicated urinary tract infections, including acute pyelonephritis and complicated intra-abdominal infections. C-T is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia. The Program to Assess Ceftolozane-Tazobactam Susceptibility (PACTS) monitors C-T resistance to gram-negative (GN) isolates worldwide. In this study, the activities of C-T and comparators vs. GN isolates from each of the 9 US Census divisions were compared. METHODS: A total of 18,856 Enterobacteriaceae (ENT) and 4,735 Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PSA) isolates were collected from 32 US hospitals in 2012–2016. Isolates were tested for susceptibility (S) to C-T and comparators by CLSI broth microdilution methodology in a central monitoring laboratory. Other antibiotics tested included amikacin (AMK), ceftazidime (CAZ), colistin (COL), meropenem (MER), and piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP). The following resistant phenotypes were analyzed for ENT: carbapenem resistant (CRE); extended-spectrum β-lactamase phenotype screen-positive (ESBL); and ESBL, nonCRE. or PSA, MER-nonsusceptible (NS), TZP-NS, and CAZ-NS isolates were analyzed. CLSI (2017) interpretive criteria were used. RESULTS: For all ENT, 94.2% were S to C-T, 91.5% were S to TZP, 98.0% were S to MER, and 98.8% were S to AMK; 1,697 (9.0%) were ESBL, nonCRE and 356 (1.9%) were CRE. For all PSA isolates, 97.4% were S to C-T, 99.3% were S to COL, 96.9% were S to AMK, and 81.2% were S to MER. The % C-T S for each division (DIV) are shown in the table. The % C-T S for ENT ranged from 98.1% (DIV 4) to 87.4% (DIV 2) and % C-T S for ESBL, nonCRE ranged from 93.8% in DIV 4 to 79.8% in DIV 7. For PSA, the % C-T S ranged from 99.6% in DIV 4 to 94.9% in DIV 9. Activity of C-T against PSA NS to MER, CAZ or TZP varied by division and was >80% for all except DIV 9. CONCLUSION: Against PSA, only COL was more active than C-T. C-T demonstrated potent activity against PSA NS to other β-lactams. For ENT, overall activity was good. For both PSA and ENT, C-T varied by DIV. DISCLOSURES: D. Shortridge, Merck: Research Contractor, Research grant; L. R. Duncan, Merck: Research Contractor, Research grant; M. A. Pfaller, Merck: Research Contractor, Research grant; R. K. Flamm, Merck: Research Contractor, Research grant