RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE To study the carriage,the risk factors and the antibiotic resistant pattern of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from hospitalized children with respiratory infection below 3 years old.METHODS A total of 453 children with respiratory infection hospitalized at Children′s Hospital of Soochow University in Suzhou Jiangsu Province from Mar 2006 to Mar 2007 were enrolled and given deep orotracheal aspiration(OTA) technique to get the sputum.S.pneumoniae strains were tested and analyzed.RESULTS The carriage rate of S.pneumoniae was 9.3% which was related with age and season.The percentage of resistance to penicillin,erythromycin,tetracycline,clindamycin,chloramphenicol and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was 16.7%,100%,95.2%,95.2%,14.3% and 73.8%,respectively.No resistant strains to ceftriaxone,ofloxacin and vancomycin were detected.All S.pneumoniae strains were resistant to multiple drugs.CONCLUSIONS The carriage of S.pneumoniae in respiratory infected children below 3 years old in Suzhou area is relatively low.Age and incidence season are the risk factors.The antibiotic resistance is serious.