RESUMEN
Reports of the development of antimicrobial resistance by Bordetella pertussis to macrolides in the United States and Taiwan, together with a recent increase in pertussis notifications and laboratory-confirmed cases in England and Wales in 2008, prompted the examination of historical and recent clinical isolates from patients for evidence of such resistance in our collection. Isolates submitted to our laboratory as part of the enhanced surveillance scheme for pertussis, from 2001 to 2009, were tested against three agents, erythromycin, clarithromycin and azithromycin, by the Etest (bioMérieux) method. All isolates (n = 583) were fully susceptible to all three agents tested (minimum inhibitory concentrations [MICs]