UNLABELLEDStreptococcus pneumoniae is a common cause of potentially life-threatening infections such as meningitis, bacteraemia, pneumonia worldwide, for which children of preschool age are at particularly high risk. Since the late 1970s and 1980s, antibiotic resistance among pneumococci has become an emerging problem. Several multidrug-resistant clones have rapidly spread throughout the world.

OBJECTIVE(1) To investigate the prevalence of penicillin and other antibiotics nonsusceptibility among pneumococci. (2) To analyze the correlation of pbp2b amplicon profiles with penicillin resistance. (3) To serotype 31 isolates of penicillin-resistant pneumococci by latex agglutination. (4) To analyze the chromosomal relatedness of serotype 23F and 6 isolates of penicillin-resistant pneumococci by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and characterize these isolates in molecular epidemiology.

METHODS(1) Susceptibility was determined by using broth microdilution, E-test, and K-B disk. (2) The correlation of pbp2b amplicon profiles with penicillin resistance was assessed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). (3) Serotyping of penicillin-resistant pneumococcal isolates was performed by using latex agglutination. (4) The properties of serotype 23F and 6 isolates of penicillin-resistant pneumococci were assessed by PFGE.

RESULTSS. pneumoniae with increased nonsusceptibility (including intermediate strains and resistant strains) to penicillin G was 9.9% in 1997, 12.6% in 1998, 14.6% in 2000; to cefuroxime 4.2%, 1.5%, 8.2%; to cefotaxime 0.0%, 1.7%, 1.0% respectively. There were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05). While resistance to erythromycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and chloramphenicol increased significantly from 76.8% in 1997 to 87.4% in 2000, from 74.7% to 88.3%, and from 22.6% to 40.8%, respectively (P < 0.05). RFLP analysis of pneumococcal pbp2b-specific amplicons was effective for screening penicillin resistance. Of the 31 strains of penicillin-resistant pneumococci (MICs 0.12 - 2.0 micro g/ml) studied, 6 (19.4%) strains (MICs 0.12 - 0.19 micro g/ml) were serotype 23F and 3 (9.7%) strains (MICs 0.5 - 1.5 micro g/ml) were serotype 6. There were nearly identical susceptibility to antibiotics and identical PFGE patterns in the former, and there were different susceptibility to antibiotics and different PFGE patterns in the latter. Three serotype 6 strains had different susceptibility to antibiotics and different PFGE patterns, which suggested that those strains may be scattered.

CONCLUSIONGenerally beta-lactams retained their activity against S. pneumoniae in Beijing. Resistance to erythromycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and chloramphenicol increased drastically. RFLP analysis of pneumococcal pbp2b-specific amplicons was effective for screening penicillin resistance. In 6 strains of serotype 23 F there were nearly identical susceptibility to antibiotics and identical PFGE patterns, which suggested the probability that there was a spread of serotype 23F isolates with low-level penicillin resistance in local area.