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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, October 2005, p. 4180-4184, Vol. 49, No. 10
0066-4804/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.49.10.4180-4184.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Prevalence and Molecular Genetics of Macrolide Resistance among Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates Collected in Finland in 2002

Department of Bacteriology and Inflammation, National Public Health Institute, Turku,¹ Department of Clinical Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Helsinki University, Helsinki,² School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland³

Received 11 February 2005/ Returned for modification 8 April 2005/ Accepted 8 July 2005

The prevalence and mechanisms of macrolide resistance among 1,007 clinical pneumococcal isolates collected in Finland were investigated. Of these, 217 (21.5%) were resistant to erythromycin and 11% to clindamycin. Among the erythromycin-resistant isolates, mef(E) was present in 95 isolates (44%), mef(A) was present in 12 isolates (6%), and erm(B) was present in 90 isolates (41%). A double mechanism, mef(E) and erm(B), was detected in five isolates (2%). Ribosomal mutation was detected in 14 (6%) macrolide-resistant isolates in which no other determinant was found. Based on the telithromycin MICs, two groups of isolates were formed: 83.3% of the isolates belonged to a major group for which the telithromycin MIC range was 0.008 to 0.063 µg/ml, and 16.7% belonged to a minor group for which the telithromycin MIC range was 0.125 to 8 µg/ml. All except three isolates in the minor population carried a macrolide resistance gene.

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