Antimicrobial resistant profile of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from the nasopharynx of secondary school students in Jos, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND

Antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae has compromised the effectiveness of therapy for pneumococcal diseases and asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriers play an important role in transmission of resistant strains.

METHOD

Eighty-eight volunteer students attending 2 secondary schools in Jos, Nigeria were involved in this study to determine the antimicrobial resistant profile of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from the nasopharynx. The study population consisted of males and females between the ages of 15-25 years. Nasopharyngeal swab samples were analyzed for the presence of S. pneumoniae using standard bacteriological methods. The isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the disc diffusion method.

RESULTS

S. pneumoniae was isolated from 37 (42.04%) of the 88 samples. Isolates showed the highest resistance of 12 (32.43%) to erythromycin and lowest resistance of 4 (10.81%) to ciprofloxacin. The resistance profiles for the 26 (70.27%) penicillin-sensitive and 11 (29.72%) penicillin-resistant isolates were similar. Both exhibited varying degrees of resistance to several groups of antimicrobials. However, isolates found to be resistant to penicillin showed a higher degree of resistance to other antimicrobial agents.

CONCLUSION

This study has shown that some secondary school students are carriers of multiple antibiotic-resistant S. pneumoniae.