This communication will endeavor to provide a clearer knowledge of the status of chloramphenicol* with respect to the resistance of staphylococci to this antibiotic. The major aspects that will be presented are as follows: an attempt to establish a meaningful definition of chloramphenicol resistance; a survey of the reported incidence of chloramphenicol-resistant staphylococci, and a consideration of factors contributing to the observed incidence of chloramphenicol resistance.
Definition of Chloramphenicol Resistance
In the final analysis, a staphylococcus may be considered as resistant to an antibiotic when a staphylococcal infection exhibits no detectable response to adequate therapy with that antibiotic. (This assumes that there are no outstanding impediments to the action of the antibiotic, such as anatomic barriers, secondary disease, and the like.) Under these circumstances, the results of a given in vitro test become valid through a high degree of correlation with clinical results.A notable attempt to establish this correlation