Antimicrobial resistance and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from Crete, Greece

Susceptibility to 14 antibiotics was determined for 125 clinical isolates o f Streptococcus pneumoniae collected over a S-year period in Crete, Greece. Twenty-three isolates (18.4%) showed intermediate resistance and 15 (12%) high-level resistance to penicillin. Erythromycin, chloramphenicol, tetracy cline. trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole and sparfloxacin resistance rates wer e 16.8, 10.4, 19.2, 24.8 and 9.6%,, respectively. Multiple resistance was o bserved in 22 strains. Vancomycin and levofloxacin were the most active age nts tested. The most prevalent serotype among penicillin-susceptible pneumo cocci was 14. followed by 9, 7 and 1, while among penicillin-intermediate o r -resistant strains serotype 23 was predominant followed by 19 and 9. Thes e results show that as well as a high level of penicillin resistance in thi s region. some strains are also resistant to other antibiotics and may show multi-drug resistance. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. and International So ciety of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.