Antibiotic resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. Report of a study group on bacterial resistance.
Twenty laboratories in England and Scotland took part in 1977 in a survey of antibiotic resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. In Str pneumoniae 59 (6.8%) of the 866 strains studied were resistant to tetracycline and three to chloramphenicol, and one strain showed a decreased susceptibility to penicillin. The prevalence of resistance to tetracycline was lower than that found in a similar study performed in 1975. Nine hundred and fifty-two strains of H influenzae were examined: 15 (1.6%) were resistant to ampicillin (all were beta-lactamase producers) and 26 (2.7%) to tetracycline. Only two strains were resistant to chloramphenicol and two to trimethoprim. Sixty-three H influenzae strains were capsulated. Thirty-four of these were of Pittman type b, and antibiotic resistance, particularly to ampicillin, was more common in these than in other serotypes or non-typable strains. Some variation was seen in the resistance rate of both H influenzae and Str pneumoniae to tetracycline in strains from different centres, but too few were isolated to assess whether this represented a true geographical difference.
D000667:Ampicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000494:pharmacology; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000187:drug effects*; D010403:Penicillin Resistance; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000187:drug effects*; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole / Q000494:pharmacology; D013752:Tetracycline / Q000494:pharmacology; D014295:Trimethoprim / Q000494:pharmacology; D006113:United Kingdom
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002701:Chloramphenicol; D000667:Ampicillin; D014295:Trimethoprim; D013752:Tetracycline; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole