%0 Journal Article %T Sensitivity pattern of Gram negative bacteria to the new ¦Â-lactam/ ¦Â-lactamase inhibitor combination: Cefepime/tazobactam %A Abdul Ghafur %A Ramasamy Pushparaju %A Sarathy Nalini %A Krishnamurthy Rajkumar %J Journal of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases %D 2012 %I Association of Health Investigations %X Objectives: Increasing prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Gram negative bacteria has prompted researchers to explorealternative antibiotic options. Different -lactam/ -lactamase inhibitor (BL/BLI) combinations are used in manycountries, as a carbapenem saving strategy. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the sensitivity pattern of cefepime/tazobactam combination in comparison to piperacillin/tazobactam, cefoperazone/sulbactam, cefepime andcarbapenem agents.Materials and methods: We conducted retrospective analysis of the sensitivity pattern of Gram negative bacterialisolates in Apollo Speciality Hospital; a 300 bedded, tertiary care Oncology, Neurosurgical and Orthopaedic Centre inSouth India.Results: Out of the 1003 Gram negative, non-repetitive isolates collected over a period of one year; 60.5% were sensitiveto piperacillin-tazobactam, 46.2% to cefepime, 80.4% to cefepime/tazobactam, 71.3% to cefoperazone-sulbactam,79.1% to imipenem and 78.2% to meropenem. Addition of tazobactam increased the susceptibility of cefepime from46.2% to 80.4% in gram negative isolates in general; from 34.4 to 87.9% in E. coli, from 42.3 to 81.0% to Klebsiella, from72.0 to 81.4% in Pseudomonas and 17.2-54.5% to Acinetobacter.Conclusion: Cefepime/tazobactam provided a better invitro sensitivity profile than other BL-BLI combinations studied.This in vitro data needs to be confirmed by clinical studies. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2012; 2(1): 5-8 %K Cefepime/tazobactam %K carbapenem sparing strategy %K Gram negative resistance %K BL-BLI combination %U http://www.jcmid.org/dergiler/1/2012_0002_0001/0136/02-1.pdf