OBJECTIVETo investigate the antibiotics-resistance type and molecular epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from children in Hangzhou.

METHODSThe sensitivities of 323 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae to 9 antibiotics were determined in vitro by Kirby-Bauer diffuse methods, and MICs of penicillin and cefotaxime were determined by E-test methods.

RESULTSAmong all 323 strains isolated from children during the period from August 2001 to July 2002, 136 strains (42.1%) were sensitive to penicillin, while 57 strains (17.7%) were penicillin-resistant. Penicillin MICs ranged from 0.012 microg/ml to 4.0 microg/ml. All the strains were sensitive to cefotaxime and its MICs ranged from 0.012 microg/ml to 4.0 microg/ml. The most resistant antibiotic was erythromycin and it's resistant-rate was as high as 90.7%, followed by tetracycline (87.6%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (48.6%) and chloromycetin (14.9%). Totally 197 strains (61.0%) were multi-drug-resistant pneumococci and most of them were resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, erythromycin and tetracycline at the same time. Two strains (0.6%) were resistant to rifampin and none was resistant to vancomycin and ofloxacin. BOX PCR typing was carried out and no overwhelming fingerprinting pattern was found among penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae strains which were isolated from patients, while the banding patterns were always similar or identical among the strains isolated from the same specimen or from the same patient at different time, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe antibiotics-resistant rate of pneumococci was high in Hangzhou, but the third-generation cephalosporins were still the best antibiotics against Streptococcus pneumoniae. One child could be infected or colonized by more than one pneumococci clone at the same or different time.