TY - JOUR
TI - Risk factors for nasopharyngeal carriage of drug-resistant Streptococcus
pneumoniae: data from a nation-wide surveillance study in Greece
AU - Katsarolis, Ioannis
AU - Poulakou, Garyphallia
AU - Analitis, Antonios and
AU - Matthaiopoulou, Irini
AU - Roilides, Emmanuel
AU - Antachopoulos,
AU - Charalampos
AU - Kafetzis, Dimitrios A.
AU - Daikos, Georgios L. and
AU - Vorou, Regina
AU - Koubaniou, Christina
AU - Pneumatikos, Ioannis and
AU - Samonis, Georgios
AU - Syriopoulou, Vasiliki
AU - Giamarellou, Helen and
AU - Kanellakopoulou, Kyriaki
JO - BMC Infectious Diseases
PY - 2009
VL - 9
TODO - null
SP - null
PB - BMC
SN - 1471-2334
TODO - 10.1186/1471-2334-9-120
TODO - null
TODO - Background: A nation-wide surveillance study was conducted in Greece in
order to provide a representative depiction of pneumococcal carriage in
the pre-vaccination era and to evaluate potential risk factors for
carriage of resistant strains in healthy preschool children attending
daycare centers.
Methods: A study group was organized with the responsibility to collect
nasopharyngeal samples from children. Questionnaires provided
demographic data, data on antibiotic consumption, family and household
data, and medical history data. Pneumococcal isolates were tested for
their susceptibility to various antimicrobial agents and resistant
strains were serotyped.
Results: Between February and May 2004, from a total population of 2536
healthy children, a yield of 746 pneumococci was isolated (carriage rate
29.41%). Resistance rates differed among geographic regions. Recent
antibiotic use in the last month was strongly associated with the
isolation of resistant pneumococci to a single or multiple antibiotics.
Serotypes 19F, 14, 9V, 23F and 6B formed 70.6% of the total number of
resistant strains serotyped.
Conclusion: Recent antibiotic use is a significant risk factor for the
colonization of otherwise healthy children’s nasopharynx by resistant
strains of S pneumoniae. The heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
could provide coverage for a significant proportion of resistant strains
in the Greek community. A combined strategy of vaccination and prudent
antibiotic use could provide a means for combating pneumococcal
resistance.
ER -