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Pneumococci causing invasive disease in Britain 1982-1990

G Colman1, E M Cooke, B D Cookson

  • 1Division of Hospital and Respiratory Infection, Central Public Health Laboratory, London.

Journal of Medical Microbiology
|February 5, 1998
PubMed

Insights

Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates show increasing antibiotic resistance, particularly multi-resistance in common serotypes like 6 and 23. This highlights a growing public health concern for invasive pneumococcal diseases.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of bacterial pneumonia, meningitis, and bloodstream infections worldwide.
  • Antibiotic resistance in S. pneumoniae poses a significant threat to effective treatment of these invasive pneumococcal diseases.
  • Serotyping is crucial for understanding pneumococcal epidemiology and disease burden.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To serotype and screen a large collection of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates for antibiotic insusceptibility.
  • To identify prevalent serotypes causing invasive pneumococcal disease and their antibiotic resistance patterns.
  • To track trends in antibiotic resistance, including multi-resistance, in S. pneumoniae isolates.

Main Methods:

  • Serotyping of 5348 Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates.
  • Screening for insusceptibility to tetracycline, penicillin, erythromycin, and chloramphenicol.
  • Analysis of isolate origins (pneumonia, meningitis, bacteremia) and serotype distribution.

Main Results:

  • 79% of isolates were from patients with pneumonia, meningitis, or bacteremia.
  • 74% of isolates belonged to serotypes 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 19, or 23.
  • 14% of isolates (768) were insusceptible to at least one antibiotic, with 591 belonging to serotypes 6, 9, 14, 19, or 23.
  • Erythromycin-resistant type 14 isolates increased from 1986.
  • Multi-resistant pneumococci increased from 1985, including type 23 (penicillin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline resistant) and type 6 (additionally erythromycin resistant).

Conclusions:

  • Specific serotypes (6, 14, 19, 23) are frequent causes of invasive pneumococcal disease.
  • A significant proportion of S. pneumoniae isolates exhibit insusceptibility to common antibiotics.
  • Increasing trends in multi-resistant pneumococci, particularly in key serotypes, necessitate ongoing surveillance and intervention strategies.

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