Multicentre study of the in vitro activity of ceftolozane/tazobactam and other commonly used antibiotics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients in the UK

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the in vitro activity of ceftolozane/tazobactam and other commonly used antipseudomonal antibiotics against geographically spread Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates in the UK using disc susceptibility testing. METHODS: The in vitro activity of ceftolozane/tazobactam and nine other commonly used antipseudomonal antibiotics was evaluated. Isolates were collected between January 2015 and April 2018. Susceptibility results were interpreted using EUCAST 2018 criteria. RESULTS: Overall, 1326 clinical isolates from 14 centres in the UK were tested. The majority of the isolates were collected from non-cystic fibrosis (non-CF) patients (n = 1123, 85.0%). In addition, 199 cystic fibrosis (CF) isolates were collected from 10 centres. Overall susceptibility to ceftolozane/tazobactam was 89.3% (n = 1181), which included 128 CF and 1053 non-CF isolates. The other antibacterial agents with the highest susceptibility were tobramycin (92.4%, n = 1221) and piperacillin/tazobactam (90.7%, n = 1199). Susceptibility to all antibacterial agents was lower for CF isolates. Piperacillin/tazobactam was the most active of the antibacterial agents tested, followed by ceftolozane/tazobactam (70.4% and 64.3%, respectively), and <60% of CF isolates were susceptible to ceftazidime and the carbapenems. The reason for the higher rates of susceptibility to piperacillin/tazobactam and lower susceptibility to ceftazidime compared with other studies is unclear. CONCLUSIONS: The data presented here support the need to investigate the place of ceftolozane/tazobactam as a treatment option in the management of pseudomonal infections, particularly in patients with CF. The results highlight the importance of routine testing of new antibacterial agents and of making the data available to clinicians to make appropriate and informed treatment choices.