Presence of international multiresistant clones of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Colombia.

In Colombia, penicillin resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae invasive isolates recovered from children less than 5 years old has increased from 10% in 1994 to 49.4% in 1999, suggesting the circulation of international resistant clones in the country. A total of 167 S. pneumoniae invasive isolates with diminished susceptibility to penicillin (DSP) were studied. The techniques used were pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) genes (2B, 2X, and 1A). Forty-nine serotype 23F isolates were grouped in two clusters: 15 (31%) multiresistant isolates showed PFGE pattern A and PBP I profile, thus making them indistinguishable from Spain23F-1 clone, and 34 (69%) with PFGE pattern C, PBP II profile, and intermediate level resistance (ILR) to penicillin and TMP-SMX, features unique to a Colombian clone. Fifty-five serotype 14 isolates were assigned to PFGE B pattern, PBP III profile, having high-level resistance to penicillin, ...