Limited Spread of Penicillin-Nonsusceptible Pneumococci, Skåne County, Sweden

Abstract

In response to increasing frequencies of penicillin-nonsusceptible pneumococci (PNSP), for which the MIC of penicillin was ≥0.12 mg/L, in Skåne County, southern Sweden, national recommendations were initiated in 1995 to limit the spread of pneumococci with high MICs (≥0.5 mg/L) of penicillin (penicillin-resistant pneumococci [PRP]), especially among children of preschool age. Traditional communicable disease control measures were combined with actions against inappropriate antimicrobial drug use. During the first 6 years that these recommendations were applied in Skåne County, the average frequency of penicillin-resistant pneumococci has been stable at ≈2.6%, as has the average PNSP frequency (7.4%). However, PNSP have been unevenly distributed in the county, with the highest frequencies in the southwest. Simultaneously, the rate of antimicrobial drug use for children <6 years of age was reduced by 20%. Thus the spread of PNSP between and within the municipalities in the county has been limited.