Detection of multiple macrolide- and lincosamide-resistant strains of Streptococcus pyogenes from patients in the Boston area.

ABSTRACT: Macrolide (including erythromycin and azithromycin) and lincosamide (including clindamycin) antibiotics are recommended for treatment of penicillin-allergic patients with Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis. Resistance to erythromycin in S. pyogenes can be as high as 48% in specific populations in the United States. Macrolide and lincosamide resistance in S. pyogenes is mediated by several different genes. Expression of the erm(A) or erm(B) genes causes resistance to erythromycin and inducible or constitutive resistance to clindamycin, respectively, whereas expression of the mef(A) gene leads to resistance to erythromycin but not clindamycin. We studied the resistance of S. pyogenes to erythromycin and clindamycin at an urban tertiary-care hospital. Of 196 sequential isolates from throat cu

SUBMITTER: Hasenbein ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC387580 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature