Antimicrobial Resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae as a Paradigm of Respiratory Pathogen: What Is Next?

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanism and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 9337

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Escuela Superior de Ingeniería y Tecnología (ESIT), Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR), 26006 Logroño, Spain
Interests: Streptococcus pneumoniae; pneumolysin; community adquired pneumonia; DNA isothermal amplification

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Guest Editor
Spanish Pneumococcal Reference Laboratory, National Center for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
Interests: epidemiology; vaccines; antibiotic resistance; respiratory pathogens; biofilms
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the main cause of community-acquired pneumonia, also causing other infections such as meningitis, septicemia, and otitis media. Thus, this pathogen is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality throughout the world, particularly for young children in low- and middle-income countries. Even in developed countries, it produces serious life-threatening conditions due in part to the worrying increase in resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics that has occurred in the last few decades. Pneumococcus is a commensal that is highly adapted to the human host and is found in the nasopharynx of carriers, especially children. In this niche, it has the ability to exchange genetic material with other commensal microorganisms. On the other hand, during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, COVID patients were treated with antibiotics as a preventive measure for potential co-infections and secondary infections. The effect of this treatment on the antimicrobial resistance rates of S. pneumoniae and even other respiratory pathogens is not fully understood. On the other hand, attention is being focused on molecules other than antibiotics, such as peptides, endolysins, flavonoids, etc., which in many cases are intended to decrease the effect of virulence factors such as pneumolysin. This Special Issue welcomes various types of submissions, such as original research papers, short communications, reviews, case reports, and perspectives. Potential topics for this Special Issue include but are not limited to:

  • Mechanisms of resistance in S. pneumoniae;
  • Antimicrobial resistance in carriers;
  • Epidemiology of resistant strains and serotypes of S. pneumoniae;
  • Antibiotic resistance and the potential impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines;
  • New antimicrobial agents;
  • Biofilms and antibiotic resistance;
  • Innovative therapies against respiratory pathogens;
  • Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the antimicrobial resistance of respiratory pathogens.

Dr. María del Mar García-Suárez
Dr. Jose Enrique Yuste
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 807 KiB  
Article
Streptococcus pneumoniae Infection in Patients with Asplenia: A Spanish Perspective over a 25-Year Period
by Enrique Gea-Izquierdo, Gil Rodríguez-Caravaca, Ruth Gil-Prieto, Valentín Hernández-Barrera and Ángel Gil-de-Miguel
Antibiotics 2024, 13(1), 104; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics13010104 - 21 Jan 2024
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Abstract
Anatomical or functional asplenia constitutes a risk factor for Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) infection, being more frequent in children and the elderly and in people with multiple comorbidities. We aimed to describe the impact of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) on the clinical features and [...] Read more.
Anatomical or functional asplenia constitutes a risk factor for Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) infection, being more frequent in children and the elderly and in people with multiple comorbidities. We aimed to describe the impact of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) on the clinical features and outcomes of patients hospitalized for asplenia in Spain. Discharge reports from the Spanish Minimum Basic Data Set were used to retrospectively analyze hospital discharge data with a diagnosis of asplenia from 1997 to 2021. A total of 132,257 patients with asplenia (splenectomized/non-splenectomized) were identified from the Spanish database. Among the cases, 177 (37.5%) patients with splenectomy and 295 (62.5%) patients without splenectomy developed IPD. The clinical presentations (non-infection vs. infection) did not significantly differ between the two reference groups, except for patients with COPD, rheumatoid disease, AIDS, other neurological disorders, metastatic cancer, and drug abuse. The risk factors for IPD were also more frequently reported in patients without splenectomy (p < 0.001) and with comorbidities (p = 0.005). The study of patients with asplenia provides relevant information about the state of SP infection. This epidemiological tracking can serve to better understand the comorbidities that affect them, the risk factors for the disease, the prediction of antibiotic use, and vaccination in public health, among other factors. Full article
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13 pages, 1475 KiB  
Article
Burden of Hospitalizations Related to Pneumococcal Infection in Spain (2016–2020)
by Ruth Gil-Prieto, Nizar Allouch, Isabel Jimeno, Valentín Hernández-Barrera, Raquel Arguedas-Sanz and Ángel Gil-de-Miguel
Antibiotics 2023, 12(1), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12010172 - 14 Jan 2023
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Abstract
Pneumococcal infection strongly contributes to morbidity and mortality in Spain. A total of 253,899 hospitalizations related to pneumococcal infection occurred from 2016 to 2020. Fifty-eight percent were men, the mean age was 67 years old, and the average length of hospitalization was 12.72 [...] Read more.
Pneumococcal infection strongly contributes to morbidity and mortality in Spain. A total of 253,899 hospitalizations related to pneumococcal infection occurred from 2016 to 2020. Fifty-eight percent were men, the mean age was 67 years old, and the average length of hospitalization was 12.72 days. The annual hospitalization rate was 10.84 hospitalizations per 10,000 population, increasing significantly with age, reaching 65.75 per 10,000 population in those aged >85 years. The hospitalization rates for pneumococcal pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis were 2.91, 0.12, and 0.08 hospitalizations per 10,000, respectively, and reached the highest value in those aged >85 for pneumococcal pneumonia and sepsis, with 22.29 and 0.71 hospitalizations per 10,000, respectively, and in children up to 1 year old for pneumococcal meningitis, with 0.33 hospitalizations per 10,000. The total number of deaths during the study period was 35,716, with a case-fatality rate of 14.07%. For pneumococcal pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis, the case-fatality rates were 8.47%, 23.71%, and 9.99%, respectively. The case-fatality rate increased with age and did not vary by sex. The annual cost of these hospitalizations was more than EUR 359 million. There is therefore a high burden of disease and mortality caused by pneumococcal infection in our country, especially in elderly individuals. Full article
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Review

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19 pages, 1980 KiB  
Review
Vaccination against Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Spanish Adults: Practical Recommendations by the NeumoExperts Prevention Group
by Esther Redondo, Irene Rivero-Calle, Enrique Mascarós, Daniel Ocaña, Isabel Jimeno, Ángel Gil, José Luis Díaz-Maroto, Manuel Linares, María Ángeles Onieva-García, Fernando González-Romo, José Yuste and Federico Martinón-Torres
Antibiotics 2023, 12(1), 138; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12010138 - 10 Jan 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5046
Abstract
In the adult population, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a serious disease that is responsible for high morbidity and mortality rates, being frequently associated with multidrug resistant pathogens. The aim of this review is to update a practical immunization prevention guideline for CAP in [...] Read more.
In the adult population, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a serious disease that is responsible for high morbidity and mortality rates, being frequently associated with multidrug resistant pathogens. The aim of this review is to update a practical immunization prevention guideline for CAP in Spain caused by prevalent respiratory pathogens, based on the available scientific evidence through extensive bibliographic review and expert opinion. The emergence of COVID-19 as an additional etiological cause of CAP, together with the rapid changes in the availability of vaccines and recommendations against SARS-CoV-2, justifies the need for an update. In addition, new conjugate vaccines of broader spectrum against pneumococcus, existing vaccines targeting influenza and pertussis or upcoming vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) will be very useful prophylactic tools to diminish the burden of CAP and all of its derived complications. In this manuscript, we provide practical recommendations for adult vaccination against the pathogens mentioned above, including their contribution against antibiotic resistance. This guide is intended for the individual perspective of protection and not for vaccination policies, as we do not pretend to interfere with the official recommendations of any country. The use of vaccines is a realistic approach to fight these infections and ameliorate the impact of antimicrobial resistance. All of the recently available scientific evidence included in this review gives support to the indications established in this practical guide to reinforce the dissemination and implementation of these recommendations in routine clinical practice. Full article
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