Background:
Antimicrobial resistance in
Streptococcus pneumoniae
has compromised the effectiveness
of therapy for pneumococcal diseases and asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriers play an important
role in transmission of resistant strains.
Method:
Eighty-eight volunteer students attending 2 secondary schools in Jos, Nigeria were involved in
this study to determine the antimicrobial resistant profile of
Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from
the nasopharynx. The study population consisted of males and females between the ages of 15 – 25
years. Nasopharyngeal swab samples were analyzed for the presence of
S. pneumoniae using standard
bacteriological methods.
The isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the disc diffusion method.
Results:
S. pneumoniae was isolated from 37(42.04%) of the 88 samples. Isolates showed the highest
resistance of 12 (32.43%) to erythromycin and lowest resistance of 4(10.81%) to ciprofloxacin. The
resistance profiles for the 26(70.27%) penicillin-sensitive and 11(29.72%) penicillin-resistant isolates
were similar. Both exhibited varying degrees of resistance to several groups of antimicrobials. However,
isolates found to be resistant to penicillin showed a higher degree of resistance to other antimicrobial
agents.
Conclusion:
This study has shown that some secondary school students are carriers of multiple
antibiotic-resistant
S. pneumoniae.
