Etiology and antibiotic susceptibility of bloodstream Streptococcus sp.

249 episodes of Streptococcus bacteraemia in hospitalized patients were evaluated for both clinical and microbiological features. Specification of the isolates demonstrated that infective endocarditis was predominantly associated with Streptococcus sanguis and Streptococcus bovis whereas Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus milleri were the most common cause of local and/or systemic infections. In vitro-susceptibility tests towards 9 selected antibiotics proved that beta-lactam antibiotics are potent compounds for the treatment of Streptococcus sp. with the exception of enterococci; that ampicillin turned out to be highly effective against enterococci; and that vancomycin may be regarded as a potent alternative in the treatment of streptococcal infections.