Invasive Pneumococcal Infection in Children Aged Less than Five Years: A Report from Tertiary Care Hospital from Western India

Abstract

Background<italic>Streptococcus pneumoniae</italic> is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide especially among children less than 5 years of age.To detect the prevalence of invasive <italic>Streptococcus pneumoniae</italic> in children aged less than 5 years and to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profile with special reference to penicillin resistance in a tertiary care hospital.MethodsClinical specimens like pus, blood, cerebrospinal fluid and other sterile body fluids obtained from infected children were processed for isolation and identification of <italic>Streptococcus pneumoniae.</italic> Kirby Bauer disc diffusion test was performed to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profile. Minimum inhibitory concentration was determined for penicillin in those isolates showing resistance to this antibiotic on disc diffusion test.ResultsPrevalence of invasive pneumococcal infection was found to be 33.4% in children aged less than 5 years. Penicillin resistance was encountered in 3.4% cases of invasive isolates. These isolates exhibited 25.4% &amp; 10.1% resistance to co-trimoxazole and chloramphenicol respectively.Invasive pneumococcal infections in children may have a poor prognosis and penicillin-resistant strains have become increasingly common. This study emphasises the importance of judicious use of antibiotics, especially to refrain their use in mild self-limiting upper respiratory infections.