Abstract
The antistaphylococcal activity of teicoplanin, a new glycopeptide antibiotic, has been evaluated in vitro and compared with that of vancomycin, fucidin, rifampicin and gentamicin. Teicoplanin was found to be as active as vancomycin against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (both methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive strains). Teicoplanin was found to be more active than vancomycin against Staphylococcus epidermidis. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of teicoplanin was 2- to 4-fold lower than that of other drugs tested. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of both teicoplanin and vancomycin either equalled or exceeded by 2-fold the respective MIC's. The rate at which staphylococci were killed showed that teicoplanin at 4 X MIC produced rapid killing in 10 h and no growth was detected after 24 h.