Nationwide survey of the development of drug resistance in the pediatric field in 2007 and 2010: drug sensitivity of Haemophilus influenzae in Japan (second report)

The Drug-Resistant Pathogen Surveillance Group in Pediatric Infectious Disease conducted national surveillance for Haemophilus influenzae in 2007 (phase 3) and 2010 (phase 4), following the previous surveillance conducted from 2000 to 2001 (phase 1) and in 2004 (phase 2). We examined the antimicrobial susceptibility for H. influenzae derived from clinical specimens of pediatric patients collected nationwide from 27 institutions during phases 3 (386 strains) and 4 (484 strains). The frequency of β-lactamase-nonproducing ampicillin (ABPC)-resistant (BLNAR) strains, which rapidly increased from 11.4 % in phase 1 to 43.4 % in phase 2, has gradually decreased from 38.3 % in phase 3 to 37.8 % in phase 4. In contrast, On the other hand, the frequency of β-lactamase-producing strains, which continuously decreased from 8.3 % in phase 1 to 4.4 % in phase 3, has increased to 8.7 % in phase 4. Prevalence of β-lactamase-producing clavulanic acid/amoxicillin-resistant (BLPACR) strains, especially, has increased from 1.6 % in phase 3 to 4.8 % in phase 4. The oral antimicrobial agents with the lowest MIC(90) were levofloxacin in both phases, and tosufloxacin in phase 4 (≤0.063 μg/ml), whereas for intravenous use the corresponding agent was tazobactam/piperacillin in both phases (0.125 μg/ml). There was no increase in the MIC(90) of most β-lactams between phase 3 and phase 4. In relationship to sex, age, presence of siblings, attendance at a daycare center, siblings’ attendance at a daycare center, and prior administration of antimicrobial agents within 1 month, the frequency of β-lactamase-nonproducing ABPC-intermediately resistant (BLNAI) strains + BLNAR strains was high (P = 0.005) in cases with prior administration of antimicrobial agents in phase 3.