Dissemination of Streptococcus pneumoniae clone Colombia(5)-19 in Latin America.

Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 5 is the third most common capsular type causing invasive diseases in children younger than 5 years in Latin America. Preliminary data on Colombian serotype 5 isolates indicated a common clonal origin associated with resistance to tetracycline (TET) and chloramphenicol (CHL). We studied 172 S. pneumoniae serotype 5 invasive isolates from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay and confirmed the presence of the Colombia(5)-19 clone throughout Latin America. Fifteen subtypes of a pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern and 4 electrophoretic types (ET) were obtained. Most of the isolates from different geographical regions belonged to pattern A (34.3%), subtype A5 (41.9%), and ET1 (91.1%). The A pattern (n = 59) was resistant to TET and had variable resistance to CHL; it was present in Brazil (10.2%), Colombia (78%), Guatemala (8.5%), and Mexico (3.4%). Subtype A5 with variable susceptibility to TET and sensitive to CHL was found in Argentina (29.2%), Mexico (8.3%), and Uruguay (62.5%). Subtypes A1-A4, A7-A8, and A9-A11 (closely related to A) also shared ET1, while subtype A6 was assigned to ET1, ET2, and ET3. Eleven subtypes (n = 21) were found to be specific for one country each. In summary, the S. pneumoniae serotype 5 isolates from Latin American are genetically closely related but show different patterns of antibiotic resistance, probably as a result of horizontal transfer.