Abstract
During antibiotic treatments normal vaginal microflora can be replaced by resistant bacteria or fungi. The resulting infections are considered an unavoidable side effect. This study is aimed at identifying antibiotics with low activity against lactobacilli. Fifty isolates from 30 cervix specimens collected from 30 healthy women during colposcopy, typed by API 50CHL as lactobacilli, were tested for susceptibility to 41 antibiotics using the Bauer-Kirby test. The test was easy to perform and to interpret. Aztreonam, fusidic acid, cefixime, kanamycin and pefloxacin showed less activity against lactobacilli (72-86% of resistant isolates). All isolates were found to be susceptible to imipenem and piperacillin-tazobactam. Vancomycin showed higher antibacterial activity (22% of resistant isolates) than teicoplanin (54% resistance). Antibiotic treatments have to take into account the susceptibility of normal vaginal microflora to prevent colonization by resistant pathogenic microorganisms.