Cephazolin susceptibility of Staphylococcus capitis causing late onset neonatal bacteraemia

Staphylococcus capitis is an important cause of disease in neonates. Treatment is becoming increasingly difficult because of the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains. Previous work has suggested that some beta-lactam (penicillin-like) antibiotics might be active against strains that are considered to be resistant. If true, this could have important implications for how neonates are treated with antibiotics in the hospital setting. The aims of the study were to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of cephazolin (a beta-lactam antibiotic) against S. capitis isolates from Australian ICUs and correlate phenotypic resistance with the bacterial genotype.