PNEUMOCOCCAL INFECTIONS IN TUNISIA - A RE VIEW OF 75 CASES

Seventy-five cases of bacteriologically-documented pneumococcal infect ion seen between 1976 and 1991 at the Infectious Diseases Unit, Tunis, Tunisia, were studied retrospectively. Meningitis was the most common infection (54.7 %), followed by pneumonia (37.5 %) and septicemia (6. 7 %). One patient had impetigo. Overall mortality was 28 %. Mortality was higher in patients with meningitis (48.8 %) than in those with sep ticemia (20 %) or pneumonia (0 %). Half the patients with fatal outcom es had an underlying disease. Intermediate or high-level resistance of the organism to penicillin G was found in 11,7 % of cases. These data underscore the value of prevention, including immunization of high-ri sk individuals.