title: Antimicrobial resistance and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from Crete, Greece.
abstract: Susceptibility to 14 antibiotics was determined for 125 clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae collected over a 3-year period in Crete, Greece. Twenty-three isolates (18.4%) showed intermediate resistance and 15 (12%) high-level resistance to penicillin. Erythromycin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole and sparfloxacin resistance rates were 16.8, 10.4, 19.2, 24.8 and 9.6%, respectively. Multiple resistance was observed in 22 strains. Vancomycin and levofloxacin were the most active agents tested. The most prevalent serotype among penicillin-susceptible pneumococci was 14, followed by 9, 7 and 1, while among penicillin-intermediate or -resistant strains serotype 23 was predominant followed by 19 and 9. These results show that as well as a high level of penicillin resistance in this region, some strains are also resistant to other antibiotics and may show multi-drug resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Bacteriology, Parasitology, Zoonoses and Geographical Medicine, University Hospital of Crete, 711 10, Crete, Heraklion, Greece. sv9sk@danae.med.uoc.gr
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maraki
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Christidou
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tselentis
mesh_terms: D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D010403:Penicillin Resistance; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D012703:Serotyping; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification