Antimicrobial Resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae

Introduction: Pneumococcal infections are important cause of morbidity and mortality. Knowledge of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns plays important role in the selection of appropriate therapy. Present study was undertaken to analyze the susceptibility patterns of pneumococcal isolates against commonly used antimicrobials with special reference to determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of penicillin in a tertiary care hospital in eastern Nepal. Methods: Twenty-six strains of S. pneumoniae isolated from various clinical specimens submitted to microbiology laboratory were evaluated. All isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by disk diffusion method. MIC of penicillin was tested by broth dilution method. Results: Of the total isolates 19 (73%) were from invasive infections. Seven isolates were resistant to cotrimoxazole. No resistance to penicillin was seen in disk diffusion testing. Less susceptibility to penicillin (MIC 0.1-1.0 mg/L) was observed in five (17%) isolates. High level resistance to penicillin was not detected. One isolate was multidrug resistant. Conclusions: S. pneumoniaeisolates with intermediate resistance to penicillin prevail in Tertiary Care Hospital in eastern Nepal, causing invasive and noninvasive infections. As intermediate resistance is not detected in routine susceptibility testing, determination of MIC is important. It helps not only in the effective management of life threatening infections but is also essential in continuous monitoring and early detection of resistance. In addition, further study on pneumococcal infections, its antimicrobial resistance profile and correlation with clinical and epidemiological features including serotypes and group prevalence is recommended in future. Keywords: antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, penicillin, Streptococcus pneumoniae.