PREVALENCE OF SEROTYPES AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE OF STREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE STRAINS ISOLATED FROM BRAZILIAN CHILDREN WITH INVASIVE INFECTIONS

A laboratory surveillance study was developed in Brazil in 1993 to det ermine capsular types and antimicrobial susceptibility of Streptococcu s pneumoniae strains, By studying 360 strains isolated from children w ith invasive infections in three different cities, 8 out of 34 types w ere identified as being the most prevalent and considered as the refer ence group for further analyses, This group comprised 77.7% of all str ains studied, and includes the types 1, 5, 6A/B, 9V, 14, 19F, 19A, and 23F. The prevalence of this reference group was significantly higher among strains isolated from children with pneumonia than meningitis, S imilarly, this group was more prevalent among strains isolated from ch ildren 3 to 6 years of age than from children under 2 years of age. Mo st strains (78.6%) were found to be susceptible to penicillin and only 1.4% showed high resistance to this antibiotic, However, intermediate resistance to penicillin was detected in 20% of the strains, This lab oratory surveillance will be maintained and extended to other cities o f Brazil to better define and monitor the trends of pneumococcal infec tions for proper control and prevention.