Staphylococcal Susceptibility to Penicillin G

Abstract

Heretofore, penicillin has been considered adequate therapy for most soft-tissue infections due to<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>occurring outside the hospital. One hundred thirty-three<i>S aureus</i>isolates obtained from children seen in the outpatient department and private practice were tested for resistance to penicillin G. The overall resistance to penicillin G by the Kirby-Bauer method was 84% for community strains compared to 95% for hospital strains. A survey of 309 healthy school children under 10 years of age showed that 47% harbored<i>S aureus</i>in their nares, of which approximately 68% were resistant to penicillin G. These findings suggest a trend of increasing penicillin G resistance of community (street) strains of<i>S aureus</i>similar to that already observed among hospital strains. (<i>JAMA</i>229:1075-1077, 1974)