Antibiotic Susceptibility and Capsular Genes of Streptococcus pneumoniae Colonizing Children with Chronic Respiratory Diseases.

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) is a main pathogen causing acute infectious exacerbations in chronic lung diseases (CLD) children. Determining the local antibiotic susceptibility pattern of colonizing strains in these patients is crucial for empirical therapy. Moreover, identifying prevalent types is important to evaluate the effectiveness of available vaccines. The aim of this study was to detect antibiotic susceptibility and to search for some capsular gene types among S. pneumoniae isolates colonizing respiratory tract in CLD children. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the period from September 2019 till February 2020 on 51 children more than 2 years old. They had chronic lung diseases including cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, and interstitial lung disease. They were attending chest clinic at Ain Shams University Pediatric Hospital for clinical evaluation and follow-up. They have undergone bronchoscopy for different clinical indications. Children with suspected or confirmed acute exacerbation of infection and/ or receiving antimicrobials in the preceding 30 days were excluded. None of the patients enrolled in the study has received pneumococcal vaccine.