Abstract
Antibiotic susceptibility patterns and serotypes of 397
Streptococcus pneumoniae
recovered from 1994 to 1998 in Italy have been determined. This collection included 229 penicillin- and/or erythromycin-resistant
strains and 168 isolates responsible for invasive infections. Among penicillin-resistant pneumococci, the most prevalent serotype was 23F, followed by 19F and 9V, while among erythromycin-resistant but
penicillin-susceptible strains serotype 6B was predominant followed by 19A, 14, 19F, 15A, 15B, and 23F. The most common invasive serotypes were 6B, 19F, 23F, 3, 4, 14, 20, 15B, and 9N. The currently available
23-valent pneumococcal vaccine could cover 91% of noninvasive penicillin- and/or erythromycin-resistant strains, 84% of pneumococci isolated from sterile sites, and 83% of invasive antibiotic-resistant
S. pneumoniae
. Penicillin-resistant pneumococci also showed reduced susceptibility to other antimicrobial compounds. Against invasive pneumococci, amoxicillin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, imipenem,
vancomycin, and rifampin were 100% effective. Penicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, tetracycline, and co-trimoxazole resistance was 1.8%, 9.5%, 15.5%, 18.5%, and 21.4%, respectively.