High Rate of Transmission of Penicillin-Resistant Streptococcus
pneumoniae between Parents and Children
Kazuhiko Hoshino,1* Hiroshi Watanabe,1 Rinya
Sugita,2 Norichika Asoh,1 Simon Angelo Ntabaguzi,1
Kiwao Watanabe,1 Kazunori Oishi,1 and Tsuyoshi Nagatake1
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki
University, Nagasaki and,1 Sugita Otorhinolaryngologic Clinic, Chiba,
Japan2
Received 23 May 2002/ Returned for modification 1 July 2002/ Accepted 5
August 2002
Transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae between children andtheir parents was evaluated in 29 pairs from 25 families. The
serotypes of 35 pneumococcal isolates from 18 (62.1%) of 29
child-parent pairs were identical. Of the 35 isolates, 23 showed
intermediate resistance and 10 were fully resistant to penicillinG.
PCR indicated that all 35 strains had at least one alterationin
penicillin-binding protein genes pbp1a, pbp2x, and pbp2band 33 strains had macrolide resistance genes mef(A) and/orerm(B). As a result, the PCR patterns of 16 of 18 pairs wereidentical. Molecular typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
showed that 12 pairs were indistinguishable, 3 pairs were closely
related, 2 pairs were possibly related, and only one pair was
different. Our data indicate the presence of a high rate of
transmission of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae between childrenand their parents.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Internal
Medicine, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto,
Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan. Phone: 81 (95) 849-7842. Fax: 81 (95) 849-7843.
E-mail:
khoshino@net.nagasaki-u.ac.jp.
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