PURPOSE: To assess and compare the in vitro susceptibility of ocular bacterial isolates to fluoroquinolones, including moxifloxacin and gatifloxacin. METHODS: A total of 154 bacterial ocular isolates from keratitis and conjunctivitis were tested for sensitivity to the studied antibiotics, using the disk diffusion method. RESULTS: Of the 51 corneal isolates, 46 (90.2%) were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, 45 (88.2%) to ofloxacin and 41 (80.4%) to lomefloxacin. All corneal isolates were sensitive to moxifloxacin and gatifloxacin. Of the 103 bacterial conjunctival isolates, 101 (98.1%) and 103 (100%) were sensitive to gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin, respectively. Two strains of Streptococcus sp viridans group were resistant to gatifloxacin. A total of 82 (79.6%) specimens were sensitive to lomefloxacin, 89 (86.4%) and 96 (93.2%) to ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin, respectively. CONCLUSION: Fourth generation fluoroquinolones, herein exemplified by moxifloxacin and gatifloxacin, seem to be more effective than previous generation fluoroquinolones against frequently encountered organisms isolated from patients with bacterial keratitis and conjunctivitis.
Quinolones; Drug resistance; microbial; Eye infections; Microbial sensitivity tests; Cornea; Conjunctiva
