Abstract
Although antibiotic-resistant pneumococci have been frequently detected among day care center (DCC) attendees the transmission of these organisms to other members of the community has not been adequately studied. Nasopharyngeal cultures were obtained from 152 children and 244 adult members of a closed community (a kibbutz) in Israel. Serotyping, antibiogram, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis were performed to determine the relatedness of isolated pneumococci. Twenty (30%) of the 66 isolates from children showed decreased susceptibility to penicillin and 9 isolates (14%) were resistant to ≥3 drugs. Of the 16 isolates from adults, 5 (31%) were intermediately resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Resistant strains carried by DCC attendees were not isolated either from their parents or from other adult members of the community. Despite the high degree of interpersonal contact occurring in a closed community, resistant pneumococcal strains carried by DCC attendees do not appear to be easily transmitted to the adult population, which suggests the existence of an immunological barrier.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 436-444 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Clinical Infectious Diseases |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 15 Aug 2001 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Microbiology (medical)
- Infectious Diseases