Streptococcus pneumoniae antibiotic resistance in Northern Territory children in day care

Abstract

Levels of intermediate and high level penicillin resistance in this day care population are consistent with previous data from the Northern Territory, and considerably higher than the rest of Australia. The national trend of increasing pencillin resistance is likely to continue.

Prevalence of carriage of antimicrobial resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae in primary school children in Hong Kong

“…Variations in study design make it difficult to compare prevalence rates between countries. Studies performed in Spain [16], Australia [31] and Canada [27] have reported prevalence rates of penicillin resistance in pneumococcal strains to be 35n9%, 30% and 17 %. In contrast, a UK study of similar design to this study, found a much lower rate of resistant strains (2n8 %) [19].…”

“…The results of the present survey have shown that 49 % of strains are antibiotic resistant, which is one of the highest reported rates in a community study. The proportion of strains with high level resistance was 28n5 % which is much higher than that of the UK study [19] and that of Australian children in day care [31]. Penicillin-resistance was reported as 17n4 % in clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Hong Kong but this was not differentiated into high and intermediate levels of resistance [14].…”

Measuring nasal bacterial load and its association with otitis media

“…For Aboriginal children, we have described simultaneous colonisation with multiple species and strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae , Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis , which may contribute to persistent and progressive ear disease. Prevalence of each respiratory pathogen among young Aboriginal children is approximately 80% [ 1 ] compared to approximately 50% for non-Aboriginal attending child-care centres [ 5 ]. The risk of simultaneous nasal carriage with H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae was nearly three-fold higher in Aboriginal children [ 6 ], but these differences were not sufficient to explain the substantial variation in prevalence of suppurative disease between the two populations.…”