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Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
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Published on: February 9, 2011

Pneumococcal susceptibility to meropenem in a mid-south children's hospital

Steven C Buckingham1, Yvonne Davis, B Keith English

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Disease, University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Memphis, Tenn 38103, USA.

Southern Medical Journal
|January 24, 2003
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Meropenem resistance is frequent in Streptococcus pneumoniae strains with reduced susceptibility to penicillin or cefotaxime. This suggests meropenem may have a limited role in treating invasive pneumococcal infections resistant to these common antibiotics.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Antimicrobial Resistance

Background:

  • Investigated Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococci) susceptibility to meropenem.
  • Focus on isolates from a pediatric tertiary care hospital with high rates of penicillin and cefotaxime resistance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the prevalence of meropenem resistance in pneumococcal isolates.
  • To determine the clinical implications of meropenem use against resistant strains.

Main Methods:

  • Collected Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and other sites between July 1998 and August 1999.
  • Determined meropenem, penicillin, and cefotaxime susceptibilities using E-test.

Main Results:

  • All penicillin-susceptible or -intermediate isolates were meropenem-susceptible.
  • 27 of 29 penicillin-resistant isolates showed nonsusceptibility to meropenem.
  • 17 of 20 cefotaxime-resistant isolates were nonsusceptible to meropenem.

Conclusions:

  • Meropenem resistance is prevalent in pneumococci with reduced susceptibility to penicillin or cefotaxime.
  • The effectiveness of meropenem for invasive infections caused by these resistant pneumococci may be limited.

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