Recent Changes in Nasopharyngeal Flora of Children in Japan

We investigated the relationship between nasopharyngeal flora of pediatric patients and antibiotic consumption in a local community in Japan between 2000 and 2009 retrospectively. There was a clear relationship between the lower annual consumption rate of cephalosporins and the lower annual prevalence of non-susceptible strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP). High prevalence of BLNAR (β-lactamase nonproducing ampicillin-resistant Haemophilus influenzae) has been one of the bacteriological features of Japan.