Susceptibility of Zimbabwean Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus; GBS) isolates to four different antibiotics.

OBJECTIVE

To establish the susceptibility of Zimbabwean GBS strains isolated from hospitalised patients to four antibiotics.

DESIGN

Cross sectional survey.

SETTINGS: Four regions of Zimbabwe (Bindura, Bulawayo, Harare, and Masvingo).

SUBJECTS: 113 GBS isolates from hospitalised patients in Bindura, Bulawayo, Harare and Masvingo, of whom most were suffering from infectious diseases.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All isolates were tested for their susceptibility to clindamycin, erythromycin, penicillin and tetracycline.

RESULTS

All isolates were 100% sensitive to clindamycin, 98% to penicillin, 86% to erythromycin; 2% of the isolates showed intermediate susceptibility to penicillin and 100% showed resistance to tetracycline.

CONCLUSION

Penicillin is still the antibiotic of choice for treatment of GBS infections and for intrapartum chemoprophylaxis in Zimbabwe. For patients who are allergic to penicillin, clindamycin will be the drug of choice for both treatment and/or chemoprophylactic use in Zimbabwe.