Colonization by Streptococcus pneumoniae among human immunodeficiency virus-infected adults: Prevalence of antibiotic resistance, impact of immunization, and characterization by polymerase chain reaction with BOX primers of isolates from persistent S. pneumoniae carriers

Pharyngeal colonization by Streptococcus pneumoniae was evaluated in 103 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected subjects (<200 CD4 cells/μL, 57; ≤200 CD4 cells/μL, 46) and 39 non-HIV-infected controls who were participants in a vaccine study. At baseline, 7%, 20%, and 10% of subjects in the <200 and ≤200 CD4 cell groups and in the control group were colonized with S. pneumoniae: Rates at 6 months were 23%, 22%, and 0%, respectively. Of 34 isolates from HIV-infected subjects, 25 were penicillin-resistant and 19 were resistant to ≤ 3 antimicrobials; of 8 isolates from controls, 1 was resistant. Resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was significantly higher among HIV-infected subjects with <200 CD4 cells/μL than in those with more CD4 cells. Polymerase chain reaction DNA analysis with BOX primers demonstrated that 12 HIV-infected subjects were persistently colonized with the same S. pneumoniae strain for ≤ 1 month compared with none of the controls. HIV-infected subjects were more likely to be persistent pneumococcal carriers and to carry antibiotic-resistant isolates than were non-HIV-infected subjects.