Distribution of Multidrug-Resistant Invasive Serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae during the Period 2007-2021 in Madrid, Spain

Abstract

After the systematic use of conjugate vaccines, the invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) was included into the Madrid Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System through an Epidemiological Surveillance Network. Furthermore, Streptococcus pneumoniae was included in the Spanish Plan of Antibiotic Resistance. The aim of this study was to analyse the multidrug-resistant (MDR) phenotype distribution among invasive strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated during 2007-2021 from usually sterile clinical samples in Madrid, Spain. A total number of 7133 invasive pneumococcal isolates were studied during the period from February 2007 to December 2021. Serotyping was characterised using the Pneumotest-Latex and by the Quellung reaction. Antibiotic susceptibility testing to penicillin (PEN), erythromycin (ERY), and levofloxacin (LVX) was performed using the E-test according to the EUCAST guidelines and breakpoints. Combination of non-susceptibility to PEN at standard dosing regimen (PNSSDR), resistance to ERY (ERYR) and to LVX (LVXR) was considered to be multidrug-resistant at standard dosing regimen of penicillin (MRPSDR), whereas the combination of resistance to PEN (PENR), ERYR, and LVXR was considered multidrug-resistant (MDR). The number of MDRPSDR and or MDR strains in the entire population (n = 7133) during the complete period (2007-2021) were 51 (0.7%) and 6 (0.1%), respectively. All MDRPSDR and/or MDR strains belonged to nine serotypes: 19A (n = 13), 15A (n = 12), 9V (n = 12), 14 (n = 7), 24F (n = 3), 15F (n = 1), 19F (n = 1), 6B (n = 1) and 6C (n = 1). Only two serotypes (9V and 19A) were found among MDR strains, and most of them (5/6) belonged to serotype 9V. Only 12.4% of the strains typified as serotype 9V were MDRPSDR and only 5.2% as MDR. The levels of pneumococcal MDRPSDR and/or MDR in this study were low and all six MDR strains were isolated between 2014 and 2018. These results reinforce the importance of monitoring the evolution of non-susceptible serotypes including those with MDR in the coming years, especially after the introduction of new conjugate vaccines of a broader spectrum.