Streptococcus pneumoniae infections in western Nepal.

We conducted a study to determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae. This study was conducted from January 2000 to August 2007 at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Nepal. The isolates were identified based on standard bacteriological techniques. Antibiotic susceptibility testing used the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method; penicillin resistance was confirmed by agar dilution method. During the study period, there were 312 S. pneumoniae isolates. Penicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, erythromycin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol resistance were observed in 5, 34.3, 7.4, 11.1 and 0.4% of isolates, respectively. Resistance to all tested antibiotics declined with time except for penicillin, in which resistance increased. Penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae were significantly co-resistant to erythromycin. Co-resistance to tetracycline and erythromycin were observed in trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole resistant isolates. Penicillin resistance is increasing; therefore, measures to ensure judicious use of beta-lactams and macrolides (inducers of penicillin resistance) should be advocated to control the development of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae.