Improved penicillin susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae and increased penicillin consumption in Japan, 2013–18

Abstract

Objectives To examine the association between penicillin susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae and penicillin consumption in Japan. Methods We used Japan Nosocomial Infection Surveillance data on the susceptibility of S . pneumoniae and sales data obtained from IQVIA Services Japan K.K. for penicillin consumption. We analysed both sets of data by decomposing them into seasonality and chronological trend components. The cross-correlation function was checked using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient to examine the correlation between susceptibility and consumption. Results After adjusting for seasonality, the susceptibility of S . pneumoniae to penicillins gradually improved (55.7% in 2013 and 60.6% in 2018, respectively) and penicillin consumption increased during the same period (0.76 defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day [DID] in 2013, and 0.89 DID in 2018). The results showed positive cross-correlation (coefficient 0.801, p -value < 0.001). In contrast, cephalosporin consumption decreased (3.91 DID in 2013 and 3.19 DID in 2018) and showed negative cross-correlation with susceptibility of S . pneumoniae to penicillins (coefficient −0.981, p -value < 0.001). Conclusions The rates of penicillin-susceptible S . pneumoniae isolates did not negatively correlate with penicillin consumption at the population level. Increased penicillin consumption might not impair the penicillin susceptibility of S . pneumoniae .

Serotype, antibiotic susceptibility and whole-genome characterization of Streptococcus pneumoniae in all age groups living in Southwest China during 2018–2022

“…Penicillin has been the first-line treatment for S. pneumoniae , especially before the 1980s ( Swartz, 2002 ). The current work shows that the resistance rate of isolates to PEN was 1.22% in nonmeningitis patients, consistent with results reported from other parts of East Asia, such as China (0.7–2.2%), Korea (1.0%) and Japan (1.7–2.2%) ( Wang et al, 2019 ; Kim et al, 2020 ; Tsuzuki et al, 2020 ). These results suggest that PEN can continue to be used in treatment against nonmeningitis S. pneumoniae at higher concentrations but not against meningitis strains.…”

A Hospital-Based and Cross-Sectional Investigation on Clinical Characteristics of Pediatric Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates in Beijing from 2015 to 2021

“…According to the literature, Japan (1.7–2.2%, 2013–2018) showed lower resistance rate to penicillin than ours. 27 Many of the resistance rates from different countries were higher than our studies, such as Korea (9.8%), 10 United States (14.8%), 28 Ethiopia (17.5%) 29 and Russia (26.1%). 30 Although the resistance rate to penicillin was in low level across all over the country, it was in high level in Beijing.…”