title: Serotyping and antibiotic susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated in Algeria from 2001 to 2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pneumococcal infections are a major public health problem because of the virulence of this bacterium and its ability to develop resistance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and ninety-four strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae were isolated from sterile (56.8%) and non-sterile samples (43.2%), from January 2001 to July 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The interpretation of antibiotic susceptibility testing, according to CLSI criteria (M100-S21 2011), yielded a 25.2% overall resistance to penicillin, with 23.5% of strains isolated from CSF (meningitis), and only 1.7% in other samples. Resistance to cefotaxime was 8.1% (including 4.4% at a high level). The most common serotypes were: 14 (19.5%), 23F (9.7%), 6B (9.3%), 19F (5.4%), and serotype 1 (5%). The percentage of these serotypes isolated from normally sterile sites in children under 5 years of age was 31.25% for 14, 10.4% for 23F, 8.3% for 19F, 6.25% for 6B, and 4.2% for serotype 1. The theoretical vaccinal coverage against invasive infections in children under 2 years of age was 61.5%, 69.2%, and 76.9% for the 7-valent, 10-valent, and 13-valent conjugate vaccines, respectively. Penicillin non-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae (PNSP) strains accounted for 67.1, 68.6, and 72.8% for each of these three vaccines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a variation of serotype rates compared to previous studies. The increase in pneumococcal antibiotic resistance is concerning, particularly for the treatment of pneumococcal infections in children and infants. Pneumococcal vaccination is not compulsory yet in Algeria.
authors.affiliation: Service de bactériologie médicale, institut Pasteur d'Algérie, Algiers, Algeria. htali@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tali-Maamar
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laliam
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bentchouala
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Touati
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sababou
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Azrou
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azzam
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Amhis
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Oussadou
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Belouni
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Smati
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rahal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000462:Algeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003906:Developing Countries; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010403:Penicillin Resistance; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012703:Serotyping; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines