title: Serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae in north-western Greece and implications for a vaccination programme.
abstract: Serotypes and antibiotic sensitivities were determined for 338 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae from children of north-western Greece with invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), acute otitis media (AOM) and nasopharyngeal carriage. The most common serotypes among the isolates from IPD were 14 and 19F, while 3, 19F, 9V and 14 were the major cause of AOM. In these groups, the heptavalent conjugate vaccine for pneumococci (7vPCV) seems to cover 90.5% of the serotypes isolated from children less than 2 years old. Serotypes 23F and 6B were the most prevalent in carrier strains. Overall, 23.7% of the isolates were penicillin nonsusceptible (PNS), 97% were fully susceptible to cefotaxime, 29% were resistant to erythromycin, 11.2% to co-trimoxazole and 1.2% to clindamycin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece. sleveidi@uoi.gr
authors.forename: Stamatina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levidiotou
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vrioni
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tzanakaki
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pappa
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gesouli
authors.forename: Constantina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gartzonika
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papamichail
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kremastinou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012703:Serotyping; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D001428:Bacterial Vaccines