Cephalosporin Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.

Illustrated in the image is the surface of a disk diffusion test including a 30 mg ceftazidime disk (left) and a combintation 30/10 mg ceftazidime/clavulanic acid disk (right). Observe in the photograph that the zone of inhibition around the the combination ceftazidime/clavulanic acid disk (right) is at least 5 mm larger than around the clavulanic acid disk (left). This observation that the presence of clavulanic acid, a beta-lactamase inhibitor, has resulted in such a large increase in the zone of inhibition indicates that an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)is being produced. Additionally, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Testing Standards, published January 2011, proposes in the M100-S21document, table 2A-S1, that cefotaxime (30 mg) and cefotazime-clavulanic acid (30/10 mg) testing per performed alone AND in combination with the ceftazidime and ceftazidime/clavulanic acid testing previously described. When an organism is producing an ESBL, the susceptibility to individual cephalosporins cannot be predicted, thus requiring that each drug must be tested individually.

The reagent strip protein method is based on the principle of "protein-error-of-indicators." It produces a visible colorimetric reaction that is capable of detecting most instances of proteinuria. Falsely elevated results can occur if the urine sample is visibly bloody.At one time, sulfosalicylic acid (SSA) was used to confirm all positive protein reagent strip results. However, this no longer routinely done. SSA is a precipitation method that reacts with all forms of protein. False-positives can occur. Any substance that is precipitated by acid will produce false-positive SSA results, including radiographic dyes, cephalosporins, penicillins, and sulfonamides. SSA may be used as a secondary protein detection method if the urine is highly colored so that the colorimetric reaction is masked on the reagent strip.

Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) is a unique hospital infection that occurs almost entirely in patients who have received previous antimicrobial treatment. Anaerobic gut flora are crucial to colonization resistance, so any disruption of the normal colonic flora (through illness, therapeutic procedures or, most commonly, antibiotic use) is essential to the pathogenesis of C. difficile infection. The association of CDAD with antibiotic use is significant. Early attention (1970s) focused on clindamycin but later on (1980s,1990s & continuing today) the cephalosporins, especially third generation, and broad spectrum penicillins (e.g., amoxycillin/ampicillin) were also implicated. The risk of CDAD is increased if C. difficile is resistant to the particular antimicrobial. In the case of clindamycin, C. difficile resistance is variable. Risk of infection due to a clindamycin-resistant strain increases with use of the drug. For the third generation cephalosporins, C. difficile is universally resistant; thus, any toxigenic strain is capable of causing CDAD during cephalosporin use. Other less commonly implicated antibiotics are the macrolides, e.g., erythromycin, azithromycin, clarithromycin. However, prolonged courses of any antibiotics will increase the risk of disease. Even those antibiotics used to treat colitis (metronidazole, for example) have sometimes been reported to cause CDAD.The fluoroquinolones have been in use since the 1980s. Ciprofloxacin was approved in 1987, but it is only in recent years with the emergence of the epidemic strain 027/NAP1/BI, which is resistant to the fluoroquinolones, that this class of drugs has been implicated in Clostridium difficile disease. The fluoroquinolones were initially considered to be low risk but their use has been increasing, both with hospital inpatients and in the community, and fluoroquinolones are now implicated as a risk factor for C. difficile infection. The newer fluoroquinolones, e.g., gatifloxacin, moxifloxacin, have better activity against anaerobes, but poor in vitro activity against C. difficile, thus increasing the likelihood of CDAD. The CDC now recommends that all fluoroquinolones, as a class, be used sparingly as each poses an increased risk for CDAD.