[Penicillin-resistant pneumococci and the empirical use of penicillins in the treatment of community-acquired acute pneumonia].

The prevalence of penicillin-resistant pneumococci in our environment has raised questions about the effectiveness of penicillin as empiric treatment for community-acquired pneumonia cases. We followed prospectively all patients with community-acquired pneumonia from February 1989 through January 1990. We also reviewed retrospectively the treatment and evolution of all patients with confirmed pneumococcal pneumonia diagnosed between January 1988 and January 1990. A total of 115 patients with probable pneumococcal pneumonia were prospectively followed-up. Seventy-nine were treated with penicillin (benzyl- and aminopenicillin), and the remaining patients with macrolides, cephalosporin drugs or both. Five patients died (4%). There is no significant differences between mortality in penicillin-treated patients (2 cases) when compared to patients with other treatments (3 cases). Twenty-three patients have confirmed pneumococcal pneumonia. Among them, 8 (24%) had penicillin-resistant pneumococci (5 strains with MIC: 0.12-1 microgram/ml; 3 strains with MIC: 2 micrograms/ml). No differences were recorded regarding demographic data, predisposing conditions, underlying diseases, severity of pneumonia or the outcome of treatment between penicillin and non-penicillin treatment groups. Also, no differences were seen in clinical response and mortality when patients with pneumonia due to penicillin-resistant pneumococci treated with penicillin were compared to the ones treated with other drugs. In two patients, initially treated with erythromycin, progression of the pneumonia was recorded. Erythromycin resistant pneumococci (MIC greater than 8 micrograms/ml) were recovered from transthoracic needle biopsy. Both patients recovered well when beta-lactam antibiotics were prescribed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)