Invasive Pneumococcal Infection and Drug-Resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae in Thai Children
CHITSANU PANCHAROEN, M.D.*, SOMJAI REINPRA YOON, M.D.**, ANAN CHONGTHALEONG, M.D.**, USA THISYAKORN, M.D.*
Affiliation : * Department of Pediatrics, ** Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkom University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. t This work was presented at the IQib Asian Congress of Pediatrics, Taiwan, March 26-30, 2000.
Sixty-eight children with systemic Streptococcus pneumoniae infection were identified by hospital chart review between 1986-1997. The age distribution varied from 2 days to 15 years, with a mean age of 3.3 years. There were 35 boys and 33 girls. Four clinical entities included 30 cases of meningitis, 20 cases of pneumonia, 10 cases of peritonitis and 8 cases of septicemia/bacteremia. Forty patients (58.8%) had underlying diseases. Seventeen patients (25.0%) developed early com- plications and the mortality rate was 8.8 per cent. The percentage of susceptible isolates to peni- cillin, chloramphenicol, cefotaxime/ ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, irnipenem and vancomycin were 69.6, 91.3, 100.0, 87.2, 100.0 and 97.1 per cent, respectively. There were six cases of drug-resis- tant S. pneumoniae (DRSP) infection; 3 cases of meningitis, one case of pneumonia, one case of infective endocarditis and one case of purpura fulminans. Our data indicate that S. pneumoniae infection is relatively serious and life-threatening. There is a trend of increasing prevalence of invasive pneumococcal and DRSP infections.
Keywords : Pneumococcus, S. pneumoniae, DRSP, children
