De Champs, C., Constantin, J.M., Bonnet, R., Guelon, D., Goldstein, F., and Sirot, J.
Byline: C. De Champs (1), J.M. Constantin (2), R. Bonnet (1), D. Guelon (2), F. Goldstein (3), J. Sirot (1) Keywords: Key wordsStreptococcus pneumoniae; Beta-lactams resitance; Meningitis Abstract: A 69-year-old women was admitted to the hospital with meningitis due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. The strain was susceptible to penicillin but intermediate to cefotaxime. In Europe the decrease of susceptibility generally pertains more to penicillin than to cefotaxime. Such a strain is perhaps a forewarning of the existence of high-level cephalosporin-resistant strains. Despite the possible detection of the resistance by oxacillin disk, it underlines the need to determine the MICs of different beta-lactams without delay and to choose the most efficient treatment. Author Affiliation: (1) Service de Bacteriologie, Faculte de Medicine, 28 Place Henri Dunant, F-63001 Clermont-Ferrand Cedex, France Phone: +33-4-73608018, Fax: +33-4-73277494, e-mail: christophe.dechamps@u-clermont1.fr, FR (2) Service de Reanimation, Hopital G. Montpied, BP 69, F-63003 Clermont-Ferrand Cedex, France, FR (3) Service de Microbiologie Medicale, Hopital Saint-Joseph, F-75674 Paris Cedex 14, France, FR Article note: Received: February 25, 1999 * Revision accepted: December 7, 1999