Prevalence of mefE, erm and tet(M) genes in Streptococcus pneumoniae strains from Central Italy.

Abstract One hundred and seventy-three Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated from surveillance studies conducted in daycare centres were studied. The mefE , erm and tet (M) genes were detected in 16.2, 45.1 and 47.4% of isolates respectively. Agreement between PCR results and antibiotic susceptibility patterns was 100%. Macrolide resistance was due to the presence of erm in 73.6% of strains and to the presence of mefE in the remaining 26.4%. All tetracycline resistant strains carried the tet (M) gene. erm was associated with tet (M) in 98.7% of strains, whereas no isolate carrying mefE carried tet (M). A significant association was found between mefE and serogroup 6 ( P erm and tet (M) and serogroup 19 ( P