Skip to main content
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1995 Dec;33(12):3159–3163. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.12.3159-3163.1995

Antimicrobial susceptibilities and serotypes of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae strains in Switzerland.

J Wüst 1, E Huf 1, F H Kayser 1
PMCID: PMC228664  PMID: 8586693

Abstract

In 1993 and 1994, 10 microbiological laboratories in Switzerland collected 351 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae from invasive infections. Susceptibilities to the main representatives of the chemical classes were as follows: penicillin, 93%; chloramphenicol, 92%; erythromycin, 94%; sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, 86%; tetracycline, 92%; vancomycin, 100%. Forty-three strains showed resistance to one agent, and 35 strains showed resistance to two or more antimicrobial agents simultaneously; i.e., 22% of the strains were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent. Four strains (1%) were fully resistant to penicillin, whereas 21 strains (6%) showed reduced susceptibility. Of these 25 strains not fully susceptible to penicillin, 10 were resistant to one, 3 were resistant to two, and 8 were resistant to three additional antimicrobial agents. Of the quinolones, sparfloxacin was the most active substance, with an MIC at which 90% of the strains are inhibited of 0.5 mg/liter. The most common serotypes were types 6 (13.6% of isolates), 7 (10.5%), 19 (10.5%), 14 (9.1%), and 1 (8.5%) as well as 3 and 23 (8.0% each). Reduced susceptibility to penicillin was found mainly among serotypes 6, 14, 19, and 23. The currently available 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine covers 320 (91%) of the pneumococci isolated. Regional differences within Switzerland with regard to serotypes and antimicrobial resistance were not observed.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (207.7 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abb J., Breuninger H., Kommerell M. Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae in southwest Germany as determined by the E test. Eur J Epidemiol. 1994 Oct;10(5):621–623. doi: 10.1007/BF01719582. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Appelbaum P. C. Antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae: an overview. Clin Infect Dis. 1992 Jul;15(1):77–83. doi: 10.1093/clinids/15.1.77. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Appelbaum P. C. New prospects for antibacterial agents against multidrug-resistant pneumococci. Microb Drug Resist. 1995 Spring;1(1):43–48. doi: 10.1089/mdr.1995.1.43. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bouza E., Muñoz P. Penicillin-resistant pneumococci in adult disease with special reference to AIDS patients. Microb Drug Resist. 1995 Spring;1(1):9–28. doi: 10.1089/mdr.1995.1.9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Breiman R. F., Butler J. C., Tenover F. C., Elliott J. A., Facklam R. R. Emergence of drug-resistant pneumococcal infections in the United States. JAMA. 1994 Jun 15;271(23):1831–1835. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Evans T. G., Kamara A., Minnick K., Blevins D., Sosnowski K. Pneumococcal resistance in southwest Virginia. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1995 Apr;39(4):985–986. doi: 10.1128/aac.39.4.985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Goldstein F. W., Garau J. Resistant pneumococci: a renewed threat in respiratory infections. Scand J Infect Dis Suppl. 1994;93:55–62. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Haas D. W., Stratton C. W., Griffin J. P., Weeks L., Alls S. C. Diminished activity of ceftizoxime in comparison to cefotaxime and ceftriaxone against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Clin Infect Dis. 1995 Mar;20(3):671–676. doi: 10.1093/clinids/20.3.671. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hakenbeck R., Ellerbrok H., Briese T., Handwerger S., Tomasz A. Penicillin-binding proteins of penicillin-susceptible and -resistant pneumococci: immunological relatedness of altered proteins and changes in peptides carrying the beta-lactam binding site. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1986 Oct;30(4):553–558. doi: 10.1128/aac.30.4.553. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jacoby G. A. Prevalence and resistance mechanisms of common bacterial respiratory pathogens. Clin Infect Dis. 1994 Jun;18(6):951–957. doi: 10.1093/clinids/18.6.951. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. John C. C. Treatment failure with use of a third-generation cephalosporin for penicillin-resistant pneumococcal meningitis: case report and review. Clin Infect Dis. 1994 Feb;18(2):188–193. doi: 10.1093/clinids/18.2.188. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Jones R. N., Barrett M. S., Erwin M. E., Briggs B. M., Johnson D. M. In vitro antimicrobial activity of sparfloxacin (AT-4140, CI-978, PD 131501) compared with numerous other quinolone compounds. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1991 Jul-Aug;14(4):319–330. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(91)90023-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kanavaki S., Karabela S., Marinis E., Legakis N. J. Antibiotic resistance of clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Greece. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Dec;32(12):3056–3058. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.12.3056-3058.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kayser F. H., Wüst J. Interpretive criteria for disk diffusion susceptibility testing of sparfloxacin. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 1991 Mar;10(3):163–166. doi: 10.1007/BF01964449. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kiska D. L., Kerr A., Jones M. C., Chazotte N. N., Eskridge B., Miller S., Jordan M., Sheaffer C., Gilligan P. H. Comparison of antimicrobial susceptibility methods for detection of penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Jan;33(1):229–232. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.1.229-232.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Klugman K. P., Friedland I. R. Antibiotic-resistant pneumococci in pediatric disease. Microb Drug Resist. 1995 Spring;1(1):5–8. doi: 10.1089/mdr.1995.1.5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Klugman K. P. Pneumococcal resistance to antibiotics. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1990 Apr;3(2):171–196. doi: 10.1128/cmr.3.2.171. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Léophonte P., Mularczyk M., Geslin P. Pneumonies à pneumocoques résistants. Presse Med. 1993 May 29;22(19):914–918. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Musher D. M. Infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae: clinical spectrum, pathogenesis, immunity, and treatment. Clin Infect Dis. 1992 Apr;14(4):801–807. doi: 10.1093/clinids/14.4.801. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Nava J. M., Bella F., Garau J., Lite J., Morera M. A., Martí C., Fontanals D., Font B., Pineda V., Uriz S. Predictive factors for invasive disease due to penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae: a population-based study. Clin Infect Dis. 1994 Nov;19(5):884–890. doi: 10.1093/clinids/19.5.884. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Pankuch G. A., Jacobs M. R., Appelbaum P. C. Susceptibilities of 200 penicillin-susceptible and -resistant pneumococci to piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, ticarcillin, ticarcillin-clavulanate, ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, ceftazidime, and ceftriaxone. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1994 Dec;38(12):2905–2907. doi: 10.1128/aac.38.12.2905. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Privitera G. Penicillin resistance among Streptococcus pneumoniae in Europe. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1994 Jul;19(3):157–161. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(94)90059-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Smith A. M., Klugman K. P. Alterations in penicillin-binding protein 2B from penicillin-resistant wild-type strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1995 Apr;39(4):859–867. doi: 10.1128/aac.39.4.859. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Spangler S. K., Jacobs M. R., Appelbaum P. C. Susceptibilities of penicillin-susceptible and -resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae to RP 59500, vancomycin, erythromycin, PD 131628, sparfloxacin, temafloxacin, win 57273, ofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1992 Apr;36(4):856–859. doi: 10.1128/aac.36.4.856. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Weber F., Kayser F. H. Antimikrobielle Resistenz und Serotypen von Streptococcus pneumoniae in der Schweiz. Schweiz Med Wochenschr. 1979 Mar 17;109(11):395–399. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES