Korean J Clin Microbiol.  2006 Apr;9(1):36-41.

Underlying Diseases Associated with Streptococcus bovis Bacteremia and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of the Organism

• Uh Y
• Kwon O
• Yoon KJ
• Hwang GY
• Kim HY

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The association of Streptococcus bovis biotypes with the type of clinical infection and underlying malignancies and data on antimicrobial susceptibility of S. bovis have rarely been reported in Korea. The aim of this investigation was to characterize the clinical features of patients with S. bovis bacteremia, and to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of S. bovis strains isolated from blood cultures.
METHODS
The clinical data of 67 S. bovis isolates between May 1998 and April 2005 at Wonju Christian Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The organism was identified by API Strep 32 kit and, for blood isolates, antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by the disk diffusion method and penicillin MICs were determined by E test.
RESULTS
Of the 67 S. bovis isolates, 18 (27%) were biotype I and 49 (73%) were biotype II. Isolation rates by specimen type were, in decreasing order, wound. 37%; blood, 19%; and urine, 12%. Of the 13 S. bovis bacteremias, 2 were caused by biotype I and 11 were by biotype II; liver diseases (46%) were the most common underlying diseases; none of the 13 patients had gastrointestinal malignancies; one and three isolates were intermediate and resistant to penicillin, respectively; eleven were resistant to erythromycin; two and five were intermediate and resistant to clindamycin, respectively.
CONCLUSION
Most of the S. bovis isolates from blood were biotype II. Liver diseases were the most common underlying diseases. S. bovis isolates from blood displayed a high rate of resistance to erythromycin and clindamycin.

Keyword

Bacteremia; Streptococcus bovis; Biotypes; Antimicrobial susceptibility; Erythromycin; Clindamycin

MeSH Terms

Bacteremia*
Clindamycin
Diffusion
Erythromycin
Gangwon-do
Humans
Korea
Liver Diseases
Penicillins
Retrospective Studies
Streptococcus bovis*
Streptococcus*
Wounds and Injuries
Clindamycin
Erythromycin
Penicillins