Group B streptococci causing neonatal bloodstream infection: Antimicrobialsusceptibility and serotyping results from SENTRY centers in the Western Hemisphere

OBJECTIVE: Group B streptococcal infection is a common cause of neonatal se psis. Surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility and serotype frequencies of invasive group B streptococci is important to ensure the effectiveness of therapeutic regimens and to guide vaccine development. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective surveillance of neonatal bloodstream infection wa s performed at all Western Hemisphere sites participating in the SENTRY Pro gram. From January 1997 through December 1999, a total of 122 isolates of b loodstream infections with group B streptococci were collected and sent to the University of Iowa for antimicrobial susceptibility testing and serotyp ing. RESULTS: No isolates were resistant to penicillin. More than 25% of isolate s from US hospitals and 14% of isolates from Canadian hospitals were erythr omycin resistant. Seven percent of isolates from the United States and Cana da were resistant to clindamycin. No clindamycin or erythromycin resistance was found among isolates from Latin America. Clindamycin and erythromycin resistance was most frequent among serotype V strains. CONCLUSIONS: No emerging resistance to penicillin was noted among bloodstre am infection isolates of group B streptococci from a broad geographic area; erythromycin and clindamycin resistance was found in the United States and Canada and appeared most frequently among serotype V strains.