DISTRIBUTION OF CAPSULAR TYPES AND ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF INVASIVE ISOLATES OF STREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE IN COLOMBIAN CHILDREN

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading bacterial cause of childhood p neumonia in the developing world, This study describes the type distri bution and antimicrobial susceptibility of invasive pneumococcal isola tes from Colombian children and is part of the Sistema Regional de Vac unas (SIREVA), a PAHO regional initiative designed to determine the id eal serotype composition of a protein polysaccharide pneumococcal conj ugate vaccine for use in children less than 5 years old in Latin Ameri ca, In Colombia, during the study period, centres in Bogota, Medellin, and Call collected 324 S. pneumoniae isolates from invasive diseases, 238 (73.5%) from children under the age of 2. Pneumonia was the clini cal diagnosis in 41.3% cases, meningitis in 41%, and sepsis in 11.2%. The seven most frequent types included 14(21.9%), 5(10.5%), 23F(9.6%), 1(9%), 6B(9%), 19F(7.1%), and 6A(6.2%). The frequency of diminished s usceptibility to penicillin (DSP) was 12%, with 8.9% of isolates showi ng intermediate level resistance and 3.1% showing high level resistanc e. Among DSP isolates, 23% were also resistant to cefotaxime, 33.3% to erythromycin, 48.7% to chloramphenicol, and 74.3% to trimethoprim/sul famethoxazole. Multiple resistance was detected in 59% of the isolates that have DSP, Penicillin resistance was associated with types 23F (5 3.8%) and 14 (25.6%). These data provides information on capsular type s prevalent in Colombia that will not only allow the formulation of an ideal vaccine for the region but also reinforce the need for ongoing regional surveillance.