Two cases of severe invasive infections in children caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 14 — case report

• Published in: Folia microbiologica Vol. 54; no. 6; pp. 563 - 565
• Main Authors: Hupková, H., Urbančíková, I., Bazárová, K., Szovenyová, Z., Fandáková, V., Bukovský, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-11-2009; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Applied Microbiology; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Child; Children & youth; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Fatal Outcome; Female; Humans; Immunocompromised Host; Immunology; Infant; Infections; Life Sciences; Male; Meningitis, Bacterial - diagnosis; Meningitis, Bacterial - microbiology; Meningitis, Bacterial - pathology; Microbiology; Otitis Media - complications; Penicillin Resistance; Pharmacokinetics; Pneumococcal Infections - diagnosis; Pneumococcal Infections - microbiology; Pneumococcal Infections - pathology; Pneumonia; Pneumonia, Pneumococcal - diagnosis; Pneumonia, Pneumococcal - microbiology; Pneumonia, Pneumococcal - pathology; Respiratory tract; Serotyping; Streptococcus infections; Streptococcus pneumoniae - classification; Streptococcus pneumoniae - isolation & purification; Cefuroxime; Meningitis; Cefotaxime; Streptococcus Pneumoniae; Acute Otitis Medium
• ISSN: 0015-5632; 1874-9356
• DOI: 10.1007/s12223-009-0083-9

Two cases are presented of severe pneumococcal infections in infants caused by serotype 14
Streptococcus pneumoniae
. The first case — meningitis — caused by
S. pneumoniae
(pneumococcus) with lowlevel penicillin susceptibility has developed from acute otitis media and resulted in fatal outcome. The second one — an immunocompromised child presenting recurrent otitis and chronic mastoiditis developed into pneumococcal pneumonia. Both cases demonstrate the extreme importance of a relevant initial treatment of localized pneumococcal infections, preventing the development of generalized infection. Amoxicillin (an oral treatment option in both upper and lower respiratory tract infections caused also by
Pneumococcus
strains with low-level penicillin susceptibility due to its beneficial pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics) was not used in either case.