Tolerance to vancomycin in a multiresistant, Colombian isolate of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Marilyn Hidalgo, Elizabeth Castañeda, César A. Arias

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present study was set up to determine vancomycin tolerance in Colombian, multiresistant, invasive, paediatric isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae. A total of seven clinical isolates of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae, serotype 14, corresponding to the Spain9v-3 clone, were studied. Isolates were grown in Todd Hewitt broth at 37°C. Growth (A595) and cell viability (cfu/mL) were monitored hourly for 4 h after addition of vancomycin at 10× MIC. S. pneumoniae R6 was used as a control for growth. For R6, the mean decrease in A595 and cell viability (log10 cfu/mL) after 4 h of vancomycin treatment (in 10 independent experiments) was 95.1 % and 4.2 log10, respectively. Six out of seven isolates exhibited similar behaviour. In contrast, for S. pneumoniae E239, the mean decrease in A595 and cell viability was 48.5% and 2.2 log10 after 4 h of vancomycin exposure, which suggested the presence of tolerance to vancomycin. The emergence of vancomycin-tolerant strains is of great concern in Colombia, owing to the alarming increase in resistance to penicillin.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)300-302
Number of pages3
JournalJournal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
Volume52
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2003

Keywords

  • Antimicrobial tolerance
  • Colombian isolates
  • Killing curves
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae
  • Vancomycin

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pharmacology
  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Pharmacology (medical)
  • Infectious Diseases

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