title: Systemic pneumococcal disease in Norway 1995-2001: capsular serotypes and antimicrobial resistance.
abstract: A total of 4624 pneumococcal isolates from episodes of systemic pneumococcal disease were received at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health during the period 1995-2001. All isolates were serotyped and tested for susceptibility to benzylpenicillin, lincomycin, erythromycin, tetracycline and trimethroprim sulphamethoxazole. The proportion of strains resistant to these antimicrobial agents remained stable at a low level, ranging from 0.1% for benzylpenicillin to 2.5% for erythromycin. The distribution of serotypes was also stable over the 7 years: serotypes 1, 4, 9, 14, 7, 6 and 23 were the most frequent, representing 70.5% of isolates. Overall, 95.8% of the isolates were of serotypes/groups included in the current 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine, 52.2% were of serotypes/groups included in the 7-valent conjugated vaccine and 85.5% were of serotypes/groups included in the 11-valent conjugated vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Disease Control, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 4404 Nydalen, NO-0403 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Høiby
authors.forename: L O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Frøholm
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hasseltvedt
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lermark
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Caugant
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D016667:Bacterial Capsules / Q000145:classification*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012703:Serotyping; D012737:Sex Factors; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects*