Nutritionally variant streptococcal infections at a University Hospital in Taiwan: disease emergence and high prevalence of beta-lactam and macrolide resistance.

From January 1993 to December 2002, 28 patients with nutritionally variant streptococci (NVS) infections were treated at a university hospital in Taiwan. Twelve (43%) of these patients had various underlying malignancies, and 7 (25%) had underlying valvular heart diseases. Nine patients (32%) had infective endocarditis, and 9 (32%) had primary bacteremia. The deaths of 7 patients (25%) were directly related to NVS infection. Among the 28 isolates recovered from these patients, 50% were not susceptible to penicillin, 33% were not susceptible to cefotaxime, and 93% were not susceptible to azithromycin.