title: Antibiotic-resistant pneumococci carried by young children do not appear to disseminate to adult members of a closed community.
abstract: Although antibiotic-resistant pneumococci have been frequently detected among day care center (DCC) attendees, the transmission of these organisms to other members of the community has not been adequately studied. Nasopharyngeal cultures were obtained from 152 children and 244 adult members of a closed community (a kibbutz) in Israel. Serotyping, antibiogram, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis were performed to determine the relatedness of isolated pneumococci. Twenty (30%) of the 66 isolates from children showed decreased susceptibility to penicillin and 9 isolates (14%) were resistant to > or =3 drugs. Of the 16 isolates from adults, 5 (31%) were intermediately resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Resistant strains carried by DCC attendees were not isolated either from their parents or from other adult members of the community. Despite the high degree of interpersonal contact occurring in a closed community, resistant pneumococcal strains carried by DCC attendees do not appear to be easily transmitted to the adult population, which suggests the existence of an immunological barrier.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Disease Institute, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84101, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meirson
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Peled
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Porat
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dagan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gilad
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zehavi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yagupsky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007557:Israel; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012703:Serotyping; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents