[A three-year review of acute respiratory tract infections caused by Streptococcus milleri group]

The objective of our study is to understand the clinical features of patients with acute respiratory tract infection associated with Streptococcus milleri group (SMG). Fifteen patients with SMG respiratory tract infection visited our hospital from July, 1997 through May, 2000. There were seven cases of pneumonia, two pulmonary abscess, three thoracic empyema and three acute bronchitis. The mean age of the patients was 57.8 years (range 16-87), twelve were males, and seven were smokers. The moderately to severe underlying diseases existed in thirteen patients (86.7%) and included the following: respiratory diseases (20.0%), history of the esophageal or gastric surgery (26.7%), central nerve system diseases (13.3%), alcohol intake (60.0%), hepatitis and pancreatitis (33.3%), diabetes mellitus (13.3%) and malignancy (6.7%). The species of SMG detected were as follows: S. constellatus, 8, S. anginosus, 6 and S. intermedius, 1. Anaerobic organism and other microorganisms were detected in five patients. A patient with SMG nosocominal pneumonia who previously had thoracic surgery for esophageal cancer died. Antibiotics therapy with carbapenem or combination therapy, drainage and no surgery, were successful in 14 of the 15 cases (93.3%). The number of intermediately or complete resistant strains against penicillin G, ampicillin and cefmetazole were 5 (33.3%), 8 (53.3%) and 12 (80.0%), respectively in this series. Recently, it is seemed that acute respiratory tract infections caused by SMG are increasing in the patients with moderately to severe underlying diseases, and several clinical strains of SMG are acquiring a tolerance to antibiotics.