Resistance in respiratory tract pathogens and antimicrobial use in Icelandic and Lithuanian children

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Main Authors: Hjaltested, Einar, Bernatonienė, Jolanta, Erlendsdottir, Helga, Kaltenis, Petras, Bernatonienė, Gina, Gudnason, T.H, Haraldsson, Asgeir, Kristinson, Karl
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://vu.lvb.lt/VU:ELABAPDB3267221&prefLang=en_US

To assess resistance rates among respiratory tract pathogens and antimicrobial usage of children in Iceland and Lithuania, and to correlate usage patterns with resistance rates, nasopharyngeal swabs were taken from healthy children attending day-care centres in Reykjavik (n = 6) and Vilnius (n = 13), and cultured for pneumococci, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis. Information about recent antimicrobial use was obtained by a questionnaire. 50% and 51% carried pneumococci, 59% and 67% carried H. influenzae and 60% and 46% carried M. catarrhalis, in Reykjavik (n = 297) and Vilnius (n=508), respectively.