[Epidemiology and sensitivity to antibiotics in paediatric respiratory infections over a 4-year period. Retrospective study of 460 H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae and M. catarrhalis strains].

H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae and M. catarrhalis are the most common bacterial pathogens causing respiratory infections in children. Resistance to antibiotics may vary according to the geographical area. It is therefore important that the resistance pattern of such pathogens is determined by surveillance studies carried out both on a national scale and by individual laboratories. In this study, we determined retrospectively the prevalence of H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae and M. catarrhalis in upper respiratory tract infections involving subjects of paediatric age, with reference to the type of clinical sample (pharingeal swab and nasal swab), symptomatology and age group. Moreover, for the above micro-organisms the pattern of sensitivity to antibiotics was assessed. In the observation period (January 1996-December 1999), at the day hospital of the Paediatric Pneumology Division of the Gaslini Institute in Genova, in 476 patients between 0 and 15 years of age a total of 460 respiratory pathogens were isolated: 164 S. pneumoniae strains, 163 of H. influenzae (96 belonging to type B and 67 non-attributable to any type) and 133 of M. catarrhalis. As regards sensitivity to antibiotics, ceftriaxone and amoxycillin/clavulanic acid proved to be the most active molecules in all the studied strains.