Survey on the antibiotic susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Limousin.

Objectives - We report the results of a regional survey on the resistance o f S. pneumoniae strains to antibiotics. Method - From April 1997 to April 1998, 20 microbiology laboratories in Lim ousin collected 343 S. pneumoniae strains, isolated from various clinical s amples (blood cultures, pulmonary samples, cerebrospinal fluid, otitis). Su sceptibility to penicillin was tested (oxacillin disks and MIC). Results - The global prevalence of penicillin resistant S. pneumoniae was 3 9.9%. This prevalence was higher in children (49%) than in adults (33%). Th e percentage of penicillin resistant strains was higher in non-invasive iso lates (36.4%) than in invasive isolates (24%). We notice the predominance o f low-level resistant strains (0.06 < MIC < 1 mg/L). No strain with a high- level resistance to amoxicillin or cefotaxime was isolated. High resistance to other antibiotics was often combined with resistance to penicillin (70% to erythromycin and trimethoprim-sulfametoxazole, 50% to cyclines). Among penicillin resistant S. pneumoniae, the most prevalent serogroups or seroty pes were 23, 14, 9, 19, 6, and 15. (C) 1999 Elsevier Paris.