Antimicrobial susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Branhamella catarrhalis isolated from the upper and lower respiratory tract in children and adults: A multicenter study

Clinical respiratory, sinus, and ear strains in children and adults were collected from 33 french laboratories to determine the frequency of the three following pathogens, S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, and B. catarrhalis, and their antimicrobial susceptibility. A total of 1,317 bacterial strains were studied. The frequency of penicillin-resistant pneumococci was high 46 %, particularly in children 65 %. beta-lactamase was produced by more than 30 % of H. influenzae isolates and by more than 90 % of B. catarrhalis isolates. Resistance to macrolides, tetracyclines, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole among these 3 species was too high to consider these antimicrobials as therapeutic alternatives to the beta-lactams in France.