ABSTRACT
Objectives To investigate the bacterial pathogens and their antibiotic resistance in children with pneumonia in Suzhou area. Methods Sputum specimens of 8179 hospitalized children with pneumonia from October 2005 to September 2011 were collected by sterile negative pressure aspirator and then cultured. The incidence of positive bacteria was tested by Kirby-Bauer method and broth dilution method, and their antibiotics resistances were analyzed. Results A total of 2391 of 8179 children were infected with positive rate of 29.23%. A total of 2552 strains of bacteria were detected with Streptococcus pneumoniae (42.40%), Haemophilus inlfuenzae (14.81%), Moraxelle catarrhalis (11.01%), Staphylococcus aureus (8.50%) and Escherichia coli (5.02%) as the most common strains. The infection rate of different bacterium was related to age, season and the type of pneumonia (all P<0.001). The tendency of antibiotic resistances in 2 140 bacterial isolates was found increased by the susceptibility test. Conclusions Streptococcus pneumonia and Haemophilus inlfuenzae are the most common bacterial pathogens in children with pneumonia in Suzhou area. The positive rate of different bacterium was related to age, season and the type of pneumonia. Attention must be paid to the rational use of antibiotics to reduce drug resistance.