EVOLUTION OF PNEUMOCOCCAL INFECTIONS IN B ELGIUM, 1986-1991

Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the most frequent causes of pneumon ia, meningitis, and otitis media. Persons at high risk are young child ren, elderly, and individuals with immunodeficiency or with an underly ing disease. Thanks to a network ot 111 laboratories spread all over B elgium, the evolution of the number of deep isolates of S. pneumoniae has been followed from 1986 to 1991: the recorded frequency increased with a mean number of isolations per laboratory and per year rising fr om 3.6 in 1986 to 6.2 in 1991. The objectives of this paper are to stu dy the evolution of age and sex distribution of the patients, and of t he origin of the isolates, and to propose solutions for slowing down t his evolution.