ABSTRACT
Sixty-eight children with systemic Streptococcus pneumoniae infection were identified by hospital chart review between 1986-1997. The age distribution varied from 2 days to 15 years, with a mean age of 3.3 years. There were 35 boys and 33 girls. Four clinical entities included 30 cases of meningitis, 20 cases of pneumonia, 10 cases of peritonitis and 8 cases of septicemia/bacteremia. Forty patients (58.8%) had underlying diseases. Seventeen patients (25.0%) developed early complications and the mortality rate was 8.8 per cent. The percentage of susceptible isolates to penicillin, chloramphenicol, cefotaxime/ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, imipenem and vancomycin were 69.6, 91.3, 100.0, 87.2, 100.0 and 97.1 per cent, respectively. There were six cases of drug-resistant S. pneumoniae (DRSP) infection; 3 cases of meningitis, one case of pneumonia, one case of infective endocarditis and one case of purpura fulminans. Our data indicate that S. pneumoniae infection is relatively serious and life-threatening. There is a trend of increasing prevalence of invasive pneumococcal and DRSP infections.