Disease Pattern, Risk factors of Antimicrobial Resistance in Patients with Pneumococcal Infection in Hong Kong Population

This ten-year study (2012–2021) from Hong Kong examined antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in pneumococcal disease (PD) caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. The overall incidence of PD remained stable until it sharply declined in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alarmingly, 80% of isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic, with high non-susceptibility to tetracyclines (85%) and macrolides (79%), and moderate resistance to penicillins (23%). Nearly half of typed infections were caused by serotype 3 — a strain still prevalent despite the introduction of the PCV13 vaccine in 2011. AMR was particularly common among non-invasive PD cases in children and adolescents (ages 2–17). The findings highlight the ongoing threat of serotype 3 and antibiotic resistance in S. pneumoniae, emphasizing the need for targeted prevention and treatment strategies for school-age populations.