Conjunctival S.epidermidis. rapidly develops resistance

Article

Conjunctival S.epidermidis. repeatedly exposed to fluoroquinolone or azithromycin antibiotics quickly develops resistance in patients undergoing serial unilateral intravitreal (IVT) injections for choroidal neovascularization

Conjunctival S.epidermidis. repeatedly exposed to fluoroquinolone or azithromycin antibiotics quickly develops resistance in patients undergoing serial unilateral intravitreal (IVT) injections for choroidal neovascularization, states a paper published in Ophthalmmology.

A team led by Dr Stephen J. Kim, Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, performed a prospective, controlled, longitudinal study with 1-year follow-up on 48 eyes of 24 patients. Each patient was administered 4 consecutive monthly serial unilateral intravitreal (IVT) injections for choroidal neovascularization.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the occurrence of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis after the repetition of conjunctival exposure topical macrolide or fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The main outcome measure was the antibiotic susceptibility patterns and multidrug resistance of Staphylococcus epidermidis.

After 4 consecutive treatments, 58 isolates of S. epidermidis were separated from control and treated eyes. In 69% of S. epidermidis isolated from control eyes there was resistance to 3 or more antibiotics, compared to 90% from treated eyes.

From control and treated eyes there was a total of 46 and 38 isolates of S. epidermidis, respectively. In 48% of control eyes and 71% of treated eyes there was a resistance to 5 or more antibiotics. S. epidermidis developed resistance to several fluoroquinolone-treated eyes compared to control eyes. The organisms also developed resistance to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, gentamicin, and clindamycin.

A large number of azithromycin-treated eyes developed S. epidermidis resistant to macrolides, compared with control eyes. The azithromycin-treated eyes also developed a higher resistance to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and doxycycline.

Newsletter

Join ophthalmologists across Europe—sign up for exclusive updates and innovations in surgical techniques and clinical care.

Recent Videos
A photo of Seville, Spain, with the Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology logo superimposed on it. Image credit: ©francovolpato – stock.adobe.com; logo courtesy COPHy
Anat Loewenstein, MD, Professor and Director, Department of Ophthalmology, Tel Aviv Medical Center, discusses the Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology (COPHy)
Anat Loewenstein, MD, speaks about the 22nd Annual Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration Meeting in February 2025 and shares her global forecast for AI-driven home OCT
Sarah M. Thomasy, DVM, PhD, DACVO, a veterinary ophthalmologist at UC Davis, talks about how her research at the Glaucoma 360 symposium
I. Paul Singh, MD, an anterior segment and glaucoma specialist, discusses the Glaucoma 360 conference, where he participated in a panel discussion on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in glaucoma care.
Charles Wykoff, MD, PhD, discusses his Floretina ICOOR presentation topic, retinal non-perfusion in diabetic retinopathy, with David Hutton, editor of Ophthalmology Times
Elizabeth Cohen, MD, discusses the Zoster Eye Disease study at the 2024 AAO meeting
Victoria L Tseng, MD, PhD, professor of ophthalmology and glaucoma specialist, UCLA
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.