Serotype distribution and antibiotic resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates collected from unvaccinated children with pneumonia at a province in central Vietnam

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Identification of pnemococcal serotypes and antimicrobial resistance provides helpful infor- mation for the use of suitablevaccines and antibiotics; however, very limited data is available on these issues in Vietnam. The present study aimed to find the serotype distribution and drugresistance patterns of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from unvaccinated children less than 5 years of age with pneumonia at a province in centre Vietnam.
 Materials and Methods: A total of 126 clinical pnemococcal strains isolated from unvaccinated children less than 5 years of age with pneumonia at theNghe An province, Vietnam between Nov 2019 and Mar 2021. All strains were identified using conventional microbiological method, VITEK® 2 Compactsystem, specific PCR and sequencing. The serotypes and antimicrobial resistance patterns of pnemococcal strains were determined using the multiplex PCRassays and VITEK® 2 Compact system.
 Results: The results showed that, eight different pneumococcal serotypes were identified. The most common serotypes were 19F (67.46%), followed by23F (10.32%), 19A (9.52%), 6A/B (3.17%), 15A (2.38%), 9V (3.17%), 11A (1.59%) and 14 (0.80%), respectively. More than half of the pneumococcal strainswere non-susceptible to penicillin. The resistance rate to ceftriaxone and cefotaxime were 41.3% and 50.8%. The percentage of pneumococci strains resistantto clarithromycin, azi- thromycin, erythromycin, cotrimoxazole, tetracyclin, and clindamycin were more than 93% of all strains. All pneumococcal serotypes were highly resistant to clarithromycin, azithromycin, erythromycin, cotrimoxazole, and clindamycin.
 Conclusion: Our findings showed high antibioticresistance rates of the strains causing pneumococcal pneumonia, mostly macrolide resistance, among unvaccinated children.

Antibiotic resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Vietnamese children with severe pneumonia: a cross-sectional study

“…This is also a limitation of this study, which is being implemented as a follow-up study in this area. A study in a northern province of Vietnam identified eight serotypes of S. pneumoniae isolated from unvaccinated children under 5 years of age with pneumonia, including 19F, 23F, 19A, 6A/B, 15A, 9V, 11A, and 14 ( 25 ).…”