Antimicrobial susceptibility of Gram-positive non-urinary isolates to fosfomycin

We aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of fosfomycin against Gram-positive non-urinary isolates collected at the microbiological laboratory of the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, in 2008. Susceptibility testing was performed by the disk diffusion method for a total of 1846 isolates; 1275 isolates (69.1%) were susceptible to fosfomycin. Specifically, 416/419 Staphylococcus aureus (99.3%) [including 129/130 meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates] and 745/961 coagulase-negative staphylococci (77.5%) were susceptible to fosfomycin. Among 42 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 64 Streptococcus pyogenes and 93 other streptococcal isolates, 61.9%, 40.6% and 48.4%, respectively, were susceptible to fosfomycin. Fosfomycin was inactive against the 166 enterococcal isolates tested. This old antibiotic may deserve consideration for further studies and use in clinical practice, especially for S. aureus (including MRSA) infections.