title: Serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility of group B Streptococcus over an eight-year period in southern Taiwan.
abstract: The increase in penicillin resistance among pneumococci and viridans streptococci and the development of serotype-specific conjugate vaccine have increased the need for knowledge of the antimicrobial susceptibility and the capsular serotypes of group B streptococci. Over an 8-year period, 351 group B streptococcal isolates from southern Taiwan were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility and serotype determination. Eighty-seven percent of the isolates were typeable. Types III (28.5%) and V (27.1%) were the most common serotypes. The occurrence of type V isolates increased with age, while that of type III isolates decreased with age, showing a predominance in children less than 1 year of age. Of 118 isolates from cases of invasive infection, types Ia, Ib, II, III, IV, and V accounted for 12.7, 11.9, 0.8, 33, 1.7, and 26.3%, respectively. Using the agar dilution method, all isolates were found to be susceptible to penicillin, cefotaxime, and vancomycin, 99.4% to ofloxacin, 78.1% to chloramphenicol, 63.2% to azithromycin, 62.6% to erythromycin, 57.3% to clindamycin, and 2.8% to tetracycline. Chloramphenicol resistance was associated with type III isolates (59 of 100, 59%) and erythromycin and azithromycin resistance with type Ib isolates (25 of 33 176%], and 21 of 33 [64%], respectively). Thus, 72% of the isolates from invasive infections were serotype III, V, or Ia, and penicillin remains the drug of choice for treatment or prophylaxis of group B streptococcal infections in southern Taiwan, despite the high prevalence of penicillin resistance among Streptococcus pneumoniae and viridans streptococci.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D012703:Serotyping; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology