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Unlabelled: The healthy carrier of Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) has been studied very little at the national level. With the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains worldwide, and the emergence of new serotypes, an epidemiological survey is needed before the vaccine can be introduced in Morocco., Objectives: This study's objective was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage in children less than 2 years of age in the Marrakech region and to assess the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates and the serotypes present prior to the introduction of the conjugate pneumococcal vaccine., Patients and Methods: From 2008 to 2009, 660 nasopharyngeal samples were collected on children under 2 years of age during scheduled visits to dispensaries for routine immunization in the Marrakech region., Results: S. pneumoniae carriage was found in 45.8% of children. Of the 660 samples, 302 strains were isolated. The percentage of pneumococcal strains with reduced susceptibility to penicillin (PRSP) was 34.7%. Among these strains, 87.1% showed low-level resistance and 12.9% high-level resistance. Resistance to amoxicillin was found in 3.3% of the strains and no strains were resistant to cefotaxime. Several risk factors for pneumococcal carriage were identified, the main ones being breastfeeding less than 2 months, the presence of more than one sibling, passive smoking, and low socioeconomic level. The most frequent serotypes were 19F, 6, 14, 23, 18, and 9. The study of the vaccine serotype distribution showed that the theoretical vaccine coverage of the 7 valent vaccines was at 57% for all the isolates., Conclusion: These data show the frequency and the risk factors on nasopharyngeal carriage, and report the status of penicillin resistance of strains carrying children less than 2 years of age in the Marrakech region. The fluctuation of circulating serotypes at the national level underscores the importance of epidemiological surveillance carried out before the introduction of the heptavalent vaccine in Morocco., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Serratia rubidaea is an opportunist pathogenic bacterium, it is rarely identified in man, and when so, generally found in the respiratory tract, wounds, feces, bile, but also in blood. S. rubidaea can be responsible for infection, particularly in debilitated patients, receiving broad spectrum antibiotics or after undergoing extensive surgery, or invasive procedures. We report the case of a 54-year-old, nicotinic patient, with no previous medical history, admitted for complete arrhythmia due to auricular fibrillation. The patient had been carrying an arterial catheter for two weeks. Two hemocultures were positive in the first 48 hours with identification of Serratia rubidaea. S. rubidaea features inductible chromosomal betalactamase of the cephalosporinase type, resistant to ampicilline and cefalotin. The treatment combined gentamycin 160 mg/d and ciprofloxacin 400 mg/d for 10 days. The evolution was favourable.