Pneumococcal bacteraemia in Belgium (1994 2004): the pre-conjugate vaccine era.

Objectives: To analyse the evolution of antibiotic resistance and serotype distribution in pneumococcal bacteraemia before the introduction of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (7PCV).

Methods: Serotyping and susceptibility testing for penicillin and erythromycin were performed on 11 163 blood isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae collected between 1994 and 2004.

Results: Penicillin resistance rose from 4.