Prevalence of pneumococcal serotypes and resistance to antimicrobial agents in patients with meningitis: ten-year analysis.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of pneumococcal serotypes and antimicrobial susceptibility in patients with meningitis, and to evaluate the implications for vaccine coverage.

Methods: Pneumococcal strains obtained from normally sterile fluids from patients admitted with meningitis were isolated at the Hospital de Clínicas of the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais State, and sent to the Instituto Adolfo Lutz, city of São Paulo, São Paulo State, for further identification, serotyping, and antimicrobial susceptibility determination.

Results: From April 1999 to April 2009, 338 pneumococcal strains were isolated, and 72 obtained from patients with meningitis, were analyzed.