[Epidemiologic study of infection by resistant gram-positive bacteria (G + R Study)]

This epidemiologic study was performed to obtain the following information: incidence of the main multiresistant gram-positive microorganisms (coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and enterococci) in Spanish hospitals, the type of infections they cause and the most highly affected hospital areas, as well as some antimicrobial resistance patterns, specifically S. aureus to methicillin and S. pneumoniae to penicillin. METHODS. Among the various Spanish autonomous regions, 104 hospitals and 446 doctors belonging to several medical fields participated in the study. Patients admitted to the following departments were included: Intensive Care, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Hematology, Surgery, Pneumology, Oncology and Pediatrics. The study was performed between December 2000 and March 2001, using two one-week time periods.

Staphylococci were the most frequently isolated microorganisms, comprising more than 70% of the etiologic agents found. Enterococci were responsible for 17 to 20% of the infections evaluated. Among the total, 35.3% of S. aureus were methicillin-resistant and 28.6% of pneumococci were penicillin-resistant. The most frequent infections were bacteremias, followed by skin and soft tissue infections, and lower respiratory tract infections.

This study confirms the high percentage of methicillin-resistant S. aureus and penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae present in our country. It also shows that among gram-positive microorganisms, there is a clear predominance of staphylococci as pathogenic agents.