The serum bactericidal activity of latamoxef (moxalactam), cefoperazone and cefotaxime.

We determined the serum bactericidal activity 1 h after the end of 2 g, 30 min infusions of latamoxef, cefoperazone and cefotaxime in six volunteers against six strains each of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All produced excellent serum bactericidal activity against E. coli. Latamoxef and cefotaxime were superior for K. pneumoniae. Cefoperazone produced the highest titres against Staph. aureus. None of these agents produced sufficient bactericidal activity against Ps. aeruginosa to be useful in initial single agent therapy for the septic, granulocytopenic cancer patient.