This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Setchanova, L.
Right arrow Articles by Tomasz, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Setchanova, L.
Right arrow Articles by Tomasz, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 1999, p. 638-648, Vol. 37, No. 3
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Molecular Characterization of Penicillin-Resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates from Bulgaria

Lena Setchanovadagger and Alexander Tomasz*

The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021

Received 20 July 1998/Returned for modification 3 September 1998/Accepted 17 November 1998

As part of an ongoing surveillance program of antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae in Sofia, Bulgaria, 120 penicillin-resistant strains (PRSP) (most of them recovered from children hospitalized with pneumococcal disease) were analyzed by microbiological and molecular methods. Several unique features of this collection are of particular interest. (i) Most isolates (112 of 120) were also resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) (97 of 120 isolates, or 80%), and over 70% (86 of 120) of the isolates were resistant to at least three antibiotics in addition to penicillin. (ii) Close to 80% of all isolates were represented by large clusters of bacteria, each with a unique serotype, antibiotype, and chromosomal macrorestriction pattern (determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis), as well as unique restriction fragmentation length polymorphisms of the penicillin-binding protein genes pbp1a, pbp2x, and pbp2b. (iii) A large proportion (45 of 120, or 38%) of the strains belonged to two internationally spread epidemic clones of S. pneumoniae, the first expressing capsular type 23F and the second expressing serotype 9. (iv) A unique Bulgarian cluster composed of eight serotype 19F isolates was resistant to tetracycline, SXT, cefotaxime, and extremely high levels of penicillin and erythromycin. Nevertheless, this clone did not react with either the erm or the mef DNA probes, and thus the mechanism of macrolide resistance in this group of PRSP remains to be elucidated.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Ave., New York, NY 10021. Phone: (212) 327-8277. Fax: (212) 327-8688. E-mail: tomasz{at}rockvax.rockefeller.edu.

dagger Present address: Medical University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Sofia 1431, Bulgaria.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 1999, p. 638-648, Vol. 37, No. 3
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sadowy, E., Izdebski, R., Skoczynska, A., Grzesiowski, P., Gniadkowski, M., Hryniewicz, W. (2007). Phenotypic and Molecular Analysis of Penicillin-Nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates in Poland. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 40-47 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Greenberg, D., Dagan, R., Muallem, M., Porat, N. (2003). Antibiotic-Resistant Invasive Pediatric Streptococcus pneumoniae Clones in Israel. J. Clin. Microbiol. 41: 5541-5545 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Greenberg, D., Speert, D. P., Mahenthiralingam, E., Henry, D. A., Campbell, M. E., Scheifele, D. W., CPS/LCDC IMPACT Monitoring Network, (2002). Emergence of Penicillin-Nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae Invasive Clones in Canada. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 68-74 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • McGee, L., McDougal, L., Zhou, J., Spratt, B. G., Tenover, F. C., George, R., Hakenbeck, R., Hryniewicz, W., Lefevre, J. C., Tomasz, A., Klugman, K. P. (2001). Nomenclature of Major Antimicrobial-Resistant Clones of Streptococcus pneumoniae Defined by the Pneumococcal Molecular Epidemiology Network. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39: 2565-2571 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Tait-Kamradt, A., Davies, T., Appelbaum, P. C., Depardieu, F., Courvalin, P., Petitpas, J., Wondrack, L., Walker, A., Jacobs, M. R., Sutcliffe, J. (2000). Two New Mechanisms of Macrolide Resistance in Clinical Strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae from Eastern Europe and North America. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 44: 3395-3401 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Doherty, N., Trzcinski, K., Pickerill, P., Zawadzki, P., Dowson, C. G. (2000). Genetic Diversity of the tet(M) Gene in Tetracycline-Resistant Clonal Lineages of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 44: 2979-2984 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vilhelmsson, S. E., Tomasz, A., Kristinsson, K. G. (2000). Molecular Evolution in a Multidrug-Resistant Lineage of Streptococcus pneumoniae: Emergence of Strains Belonging to the Serotype 6B Icelandic Clone That Lost Antibiotic Resistance Traits. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 1375-1381 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»