Synergy of Penicillin and Gentamicin against Enterococci

Abstract
Because combinations of penicillin plus streptomycin and penicillin plus kanamycin do not produce synergism against all strains of enterococci, the effect of penicillin plus gentamicin against enterococci was examined. A very high level of resistance to gentamicin was absent in 172 strains of enterococci isolated from clinical specimens. Penicillin plus gentamicin was synergistic against all of 30 strains tested. The size of the inoculum had a significant effect when low concentrations of gentamicin were tested against certain of the strains. Nonetheless, the combination of penicillin plus gentamicin produced enhanced killing of all enterococci tested when used in clinically achievable concentrations.

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