Strep pneumonia becoming more antibiotic-resistant
November 1, 1999 2 minutes read
Strep pneumonia becoming more antibiotic-resistant
Strep pneumonia is becoming more resistant, not only to penicillin, but also to other antibiotics, warns Katherine L. Heilpern, MD, FACEP, interim residency director and assistant professor in the department of emergency medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
"Pneumococcus used to be exquisitely sensitive to penicillin and cephalosporins, but that is no longer the case." she says.
Unfortunately, this microbe is now developing increasing resistance to many classes of antibiotics, Heilpern says. " In some parts of the country — Atlanta, for example — pneumococcal resistance to penicillin and other beta lactam antibiotics exceeds 30%," she notes.
Pneumonia is a year-round disease, but S. pneumoniae has a predilection for the winter months, says Heilpern. Patients over 65, and those with chronic diseases such as diabetes, HIV, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, severe asthma, patients on chronic steroids, sickle cell disease, and evidence of heavy alcohol abuse should receive the pneumococcal vaccine, she advises. "All these conditions can predispose someone to invasive pneumococcal disease."
Strep pneumonia (invasive pneumococcal disease) kills more people in the United States every year — 40,000 or more — than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined, says Paula Heitkemper, RN, BSN, CIC, infection control practitioner at University Hospital in Cincinnati.
Pneumococcal pneumonia occurs in 150,000 to 570,000 cases in the United States every year, she stresses. "This is the most common clinical presentation of invasive pneumococcal disease," Heitkemper says. "It is spread by person-to-person contact via droplets that land on the mucous membranes of your eyes, nose, mouth, if within three feet of the coughing patient, usually in the winter and early spring."
If you get the pneumococcal vaccine, it takes two or three weeks to develop antibodies. It is 60% to 70% effective in preventing invasive disease, notes Heitkemper. Pneumococcal vaccine should be administered to all individuals 65 years of age or older, adults with chronic illnesses (cardiovascular or pulmonary disease, diabetes, alcoholism, cirrhosis, or cerebrospinal fluid leaks), and those people who have had their spleen removed.
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