title: Tolerance to vancomycin in a multiresistant, Colombian isolate of Streptococcus pneumoniae.
abstract: The present study was set up to determine vancomycin tolerance in Colombian, multiresistant, invasive, paediatric isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae. A total of seven clinical isolates of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae, serotype 14, corresponding to the Spain(9v)-3 clone, were studied. Isolates were grown in Todd Hewitt broth at 37 degrees C. Growth (A(595)) and cell viability (cfu/ml) were monitored hourly for 4 h after addition of vancomycin at 10x MIC. S. pneumoniae R6 was used as a control for growth. For R6, the mean decrease in A(595) and cell viability (log(10) cfu/ml) after 4 h of vancomycin treatment (in 10 independent experiments) was 95.1% and 4.2 log(10), respectively. Six out of seven isolates exhibited similar behaviour. In contrast, for S. pneumoniae E239, the mean decrease in A(595) and cell viability was 48.5% and 2.2 log(10) after 4 h of vancomycin exposure, which suggested the presence of tolerance to vancomycin. The emergence of vancomycin-tolerant strains is of great concern in Colombia, owing to the alarming increase in resistance to penicillin.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Group, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Avenida Calle 26 No 51-60, Bogotá, Colombia. mhidalgo@ins.gov.co
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hidalgo
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Castaneda
authors.forename: Cesar A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Arias
mesh_terms: D003105:Colombia; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D004361:Drug Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014640:Vancomycin