The in vitro activity of ceftriaxone combined with tazobactam against 190 strains of anaerobic bacteria was compared with that of amoxicillin with clavulanic acid, ampicillin with sulbactam, piperacillin alone and with tazobactam, cefoxitin, and imipenem, i.e. beta-lactam antibiotics established in the treatment of anaerobic infections. All anaerobes tested were susceptible to
32 mg/l ceftriaxone when tazobactam was added at fixed ratios (ceftriaxone to tazobactam) of 2:1 and 8:1 and at constant concentrations of 2,4 and 8 mg/l, respectively. When 4 mg/l tazobactam was added, the MICs of ceftriaxone for 83 of 94 strains of the
Bacteroides fragilis group were reduced by a factor of 8 to 512; for eight strains, this reduction was two to fourfold. Only the MICs of ceftriaxone for three
Bacteroides fragilis strains were not influenced.