A review of antibiotic resistance patterns of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Europe

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae no longer has predictable antibiotic susceptibility. There are two areas of high prevalence of resistance (over 25%) to beta-lactam antibiotics in the South-West and North-East of Europe. In Spain, a close relationship has been found between the yearly rate of aminopenicillin consumption and penicillin resistance. High level resistance (MIC greater than or equal to 1 mg/L) has developed against a previous background of low level resistance. The serotypes involved in penicillin resistance in Spain are widespread in other countries. Macrolide resistance is high in France (over 15%) and is also increasing in other countries. All these resistant isolates remain susceptible to the most recent fluoroquinolones, such as temafloxacin. Prospective surveillance, more rational use of antibiotics and a diversification of antibiotic use in respiratory tract infections may serve to limit the threat of antibiotic resistance in S. pneumoniae.

Effect of Abolishment of the Use of Antimicrobial Agents for Growth Promotion on Occurrence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Fecal Enterococci from Food Animals in Denmark

“…Several studies have shown that the occurrence of resistance is closely related to the medical use of a drug, even though the association may be variable (11,15,26). This association has also been demonstrated for antimicrobial agents used for growth promotion (4,6,9).…”

Circulating Serotypes and Trends in Antibiotic Resistance of Invasive Streptococcus Pneumoniae from Children under Five in Bangalore

“…Moreover, the PRP has been reported to harbour resistance to other antimicrobial classes, thus making the treatment much more difficult [12]. Multidrug resistance (MDR) of pneumococci was first reported in 1977 in South Africa and subsequently in Europe [13] and United states [14]. Since then, low levels of MDR have been reported from few regions of India.…”

Amoxicillin Is Effective against Penicillin-Resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae Strains in a Mouse Pneumonia Model Simulating Human Pharmacokinetics

“…According to data collected by the National Pneumococcus Reference Center in France (63) in 2002, strains with decreased susceptibility to penicillin (MIC Ͼ 0.1 g/ml) accounted for 53% of invasive pneumococcal infections, whereas only 8% of strains from adults with bacteremic pneumonia were resistant to penicillin (MIC Ͼ 1 g/ml). Penicillin-resistant strains exhibit variable patterns of resistance to other beta-lactams and are usually resistant to other classes of antibiotics that are active against pneumococci (12,34,53,54,55). The overall mortality rate in patients with S. pneumoniae pneumonia is about 10% (25).…”