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Bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia associated with macrolide failure

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Abstract

Despite rising rates of macrolide resistance to Streptococcus pneumoniae, the current guidelines for outpatient treatment of community-acquired pneumonia include a macrolide as initial empiric therapy. There have only been a few previously documented cases of macrolide treatment failure in community-acquired pneumonia and there is controversy as to whether macrolide resistance in S. pneumoniae is clinically important. Reported here are two cases of community-acquired pneumonia caused by S. pneumoniae, one of which was fatal, that failed to respond to clarithromycin.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr. M. Gerson for reviewing the manuscript. J.D. has been a paid consultant and speaker for Sanofi–Aventis, Bristol–Myers Squibb and Pfizer. R.D. has been a paid consultant and speaker for Sanofi–Aventis, Bristol–Myers Squibb, Abbott Laboratories, Bayer and Roche.

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  1. Departments of Medicine and Laboratories, St. Mary’s Hospital, 3830 Lacombe, Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1M5, Canada

    J. Dylewski

  2. Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Medicine, Division of Microbiology, Queen Elizabeth II Health Science Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3A 1V8, Canada

    R. Davidson

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  1. J. Dylewski
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  2. R. Davidson
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Correspondence to J. Dylewski.

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Dylewski, J., Davidson, R. Bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia associated with macrolide failure. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 25, 39–42 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-005-0081-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-005-0081-z

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