The clinical benefit of carbapenems against carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) remains in question. MICs of imipenem (IMP) and ertapenem (ERT) against isogenic derivatives of the wild-type strain Escherichia coli CFT073 producing KPC-3, OXA-48, or NDM-1 were 0.25, 2, 16, and 64 mg/liter for IMP and 0.008, 0.5, 8, and 64 mg/liter for ERT, respectively. Swiss ICR-strain mice with peritonitis were treated for 24 h with IMP or ERT. Despite a limited duration of time during which free antibiotic concentrations were above the MIC (down to 0% for the NDM-1-producing strain), IMP and ERT significantly reduced bacterial counts in spleen and peritoneal fluid at 24 h ( P < 0.