Large-scale global molecular epidemiology of antibiotic resistance determinants in Streptococcus pneumoniae
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Background
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading pathogen in terms of deaths attributable to or associated with antimicrobial resistance globally. Thus, monitoring antibiotic resistance determinants constitutes a key aspect of surveillance efforts.
Aim
Leveraging on publicly available whole-genome sequencing data, we aimed to investigate the presence and distribution patterns of antibiotic resistance in S. pneumoniae with a focus on multi-drug resistance and serotype distribution.
Methods
Metadata and genomes were obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information Pathogen Detection database. Curation and harmonization were performed in R and SPSS. Data on resistance patterns was defined according to AMRFinderPlus and a combination of prediction tools were employed for in silico serotyping.
Results
Analyses involved 75,161 genomes totaling 122,673 gene/allele counts from 14 antibiotic classes. Multi-drug resistance was observed in 16.7% of isolates with the highest increasing rates in Asia and South America. Within antibiotic classes, increase in macrolide resistance genes was highlighted, particularly in the proportion of genomes presenting mefA / msrD . Over a third of isolates with serotypes 19F, 23F, 15A, 6B, and 19A showed multi-drug resistance. We further observed the highest significant increases in the presence of resistance in 33F, 22F, 10A, and 23A. Serotype 13, not included in any vaccine formulation, presented high multi-drug resistance rates with a strong increasing trend.
Conclusions
The findings of this study highlight variations in resistance determinants globally and across serotypes over time. Collectively these data underscore the added value of utilizing public whole-genome sequencing data to investigate the effectiveness and repercussions of treatment and vaccination strategies on managing antibiotic resistance.
