Clinical and molecular epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections during and in early recovery phase of COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong

IF 4 3区医学 Q1 INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Journal of Infection and Public Health Pub Date : 2025-09-20 DOI:10.1016/j.jiph.2025.102976

Jade L.L. Teng , Yuanchao Ma , Anthony R. Tam , Elaine Chan , Hwei Huih Lee , Tsz Tuen Li , Wing Ho Li , Jordan Y.H. Fong , Man Lung Yeung , Susanna K.P. Lau , Patrick C.Y. Woo

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has given us an unprecedented opportunity to study the clinical and molecular epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections during this period, when its incidence was at its record low and started to rise again when social distancing restriction policies were lifted. A total of 64 non-duplicated S. pneumoniae isolates (May/2020–December/2023) from patients at the Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong were included. The commonest clinical manifestation was community-acquired (n = 39) and hospital-acquired (n = 9) pneumonia. The most prevalent serotypes were 3, 19A and 19F (all n = 11). Multilocus sequence typing revealed 34 sequence-types, including four novel ones. Resistome profiling showed that the 64 S. pneumoniae isolates exhibited greater abundance of resistance genes compared to 10,234 S. pneumoniae isolates from other countries. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that the isolates were highly resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin (73.4 % and 62.5 %), concurring with resistome profiling results which showed that 73.4 % and 65.6 % had resistance genes against these two antibiotics. Despite the transient interruption of transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic, S. pneumoniae serotype 3 has remained as one of the most important causes of pneumococcal infections in Hong Kong. S. pneumoniae strains from our patients were more resistant to antibiotics compared to those from Western countries.

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香港COVID-19大流行期间及恢复初期肺炎链球菌感染的临床及分子流行病学

新冠肺炎大流行为我们研究肺炎链球菌感染的临床和分子流行病学提供了前所未有的机会，在这一时期，其发病率处于历史最低水平，并在取消社会距离限制政策后再次开始上升。纳入了从香港玛丽医院患者中分离出的64株非重复肺炎链球菌（2020年5月至2023年12月）。最常见的临床表现为社区获得性肺炎（n = 39）和医院获得性肺炎（n = 9）。最常见的血清型为3、19A和19F（均n = 11）。多位点序列分型共发现34种序列类型，其中有4种是新发现的。抵抗组分析显示，64株肺炎链球菌与其他国家的10234株肺炎链球菌相比，具有更高的耐药基因丰度。药敏试验结果显示，分离菌株对红霉素和克林霉素高度耐药（分别为73.4 %和62.5 %），与耐药组分析结果一致（分别为73.4 %和65.6% %）。尽管在新冠肺炎大流行期间传播曾短暂中断，但血清3型肺炎链球菌仍是香港肺炎球菌感染的最重要原因之一。与来自西方国家的肺炎链球菌相比，来自我国患者的肺炎链球菌对抗生素的耐药性更强。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Infection and Public Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH -INFECTIOUS DISEASES

CiteScore

13.10

自引率

1.50%

发文量

203

审稿时长

96 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Infection and Public Health, first official journal of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences and the Saudi Association for Public Health, aims to be the foremost scientific, peer-reviewed journal encompassing infection prevention and control, microbiology, infectious diseases, public health and the application of healthcare epidemiology to the evaluation of health outcomes. The point of view of the journal is that infection and public health are closely intertwined and that advances in one area will have positive consequences on the other. The journal will be useful to all health professionals who are partners in the management of patients with communicable diseases, keeping them up to date. The journal is proud to have an international and diverse editorial board that will assist and facilitate the publication of articles that reflect a global view on infection control and public health, as well as emphasizing our focus on supporting the needs of public health practitioners. It is our aim to improve healthcare by reducing risk of infection and related adverse outcomes by critical review, selection, and dissemination of new and relevant information in the field of infection control, public health and infectious diseases in all healthcare settings and the community.