Capsular Types and Susceptibility to Penicillin of Pneumococci Isolated from Cerebrospinal Fluid or Blood in Denmark, 1983–1988

Abstract

By means of the capsular reaction test, we typed 2,294 pneumococcal strains isolated from blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in Denmark during 1983–88. 91% of the strains belonged to types included in the 23—valent vaccine. Among 254 pneumococcal isolates from blood and CSF from Danish children, types 6A + 6B, 18C, 14, 7F, 1, and 19F, in that order of frequency, were the most common ones, accounting for 68%. Among 2,031 pneumococcal strains from adults, the most common isolates were types 1, 3, 14, 7F, 4, and 6A + 6B, accounting for 50% of all pneumococcal strains isolated from patients with invasive disease. Penicillin-resistant invasive strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae are rare in Denmark (< 1%).