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Increase in serotype 19A among pediatric population
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21st Annual IDC NY Symposium
Although the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine has led to a decrease in the frequency of invasive pneumococcal disease — including community-acquired pneumonia in children — the increase in Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A elicits concern.
“This 19A serotype is often resistant to multiple drugs,” said Sheldon L. Kaplan, MD, from Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and an Infectious Diseases in Children Editorial Board member. “We clearly are seeing an overall decline in invasive disease, but in the background there is an increasing number of nonvaccine serotypes — in particular 19A.”
In a study by Pai et al., researchers from the CDC examined the rate of invasive pneumococcal disease caused by various serotypes among a group of children younger than 5 years.
Results indicated an increase in the rate for serotype 19A from 2.6 cases per 100,000 population during 1999 to 2000 to 6.5 cases per 100,000 population from 2003 to 2004. Significant increases also were found for penicillin nonsusceptibility and multidrug resistance among serotype 19A isolates.
“About 40% to 50% of 19A isolates associated with invasive disease are multidrug-resistant. We have to keep this in mind,” said Kaplan. – by Jennifer Southall
For more information:
- Kaplan SL. Bacterial pneumonia 2008: advances in therapy, guidelines needed and other community-acquired infections. Presented at: 21st Annual IDC NY Symposium; Nov. 22-23, 2008; New York.