a1 Division of Bacterial Respiratory Infections, Center for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea
a2 NeoDin Medical Institute, Seoul, Korea
This study investigated the carriage of antimicrobial resistant Haemophilus influenzae in 582 healthy children attending kindergarten or elementary school at four intervals over a 9-month period in Seoul, Korea. Diverse colonization patterns and a lower level of long-term persistent carriage by H. influenzae status were evident in this study. Colonizing H. influenzae isolates showed a high rate of resistance to β-lactams including ampicillin (51·9%), cefaclor (52·1%), and amoxicillin/clavulanate (16·3%). Based on the ampicillin resistance mechanism, H. influenzae isolates were categorized as β-lactamase-negative, ampicillin-susceptible (BLNAS) (48·1%), β-lactamase-positive, ampicillin-resistant (BLPAR) (22·6%), β-lactamase-negative, ampicillin-resistant (BLNAR) (22·8%), and β-lactamase-positive, amoxicillin/clavulanate-resistant (BLPACR) strains (6·5%). This study provides the first evidence of a high prevalence (22·8%) of BLNAR strains of H. influenzae nasal carriage in healthy children attending kindergarten or the first 2 years of elementary school in Korea. The high carriage of these resistant strains in overcrowded urban settings may create reservoirs for development of H. influenzae-resistant strains.
(Received February 07 2012)
(Revised May 08 2012)
(Accepted May 08 2012)
(Online publication May 30 2012)
c1 Author for correspondence: Y. H. Kang, Director, Division of Bacterial Respiratory Infections, Center for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Osong Health Technology Administration Complex, 643, Yeonje-ri, Gangoe-myeon, Cheongwon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, 363-951, Korea. (Email: email@example.com)