Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from a paediatric population: changes in 10 years

Susceptibility to penicillin, cefotaxime, erythromycin and chloramphenicol, as well as serotypes of 100 Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated between 1984 and 1985, were compared to those of the same number of strains isolated between 1994 and 1995. The strains were obtained in Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, and were thought to be the cause of a variety of infectious diseases in paediatric patients attending this centre. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of penicillin were higher in strains of the second period (51% of resistant strains during the first period vs 61% during the second one), as were those of cefotaxime (12% vs 18%) and erythromycin (6% vs 36%), while chloramphenicol MICs showed a light decrease (65% vs 46%). Serotypes 6, 19 and 23 were the most prevalent. Five new serotypes (4, 10, 18, 22 and 31) were detected in 10 penicillin-susceptible strains during the second period. Because of the increase in resistance to antibiotics commonly used in the treatment of systemic and localized infections, therapeutic alternatives must be studied and suggested in order to offer oral and percutaneous treatment for our children's infections caused by pneumococci.