Abstract

In a porspective prevalence and incidence survey in The Netherlands in 1999 antimicrobial susceptibility data on invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus infections were collected sithin the framework of European Antomicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS). The EARSS project covered approximately 40% of the Dutch population (extramural) and 40% of the total number of patient-days (intramural). Penicillin resistance in S. pneumoniae was minimal; only 9 of 767 (1,2%) isolates were non-susceptible. Resistance to oxacillin in S. aureus was low, only (0,3%) isolates were MRSA (mecA positive). The incidence of invasive S. pneumoniae was 117 cases/1.000.000 person-years; the incidence of invasive penicillin non-susceptible S. pneumoniae was 1 case/1.000.000 person-years. The incidence of invasive S. aureus infections was 0.25 cases/1000 patient-days; the incidence of invasive MRSA infections was 0.0006 cases/1000 patient-days. It may be concluded that resistance to antibiotics in these two pathogens, when compared to other European countries, is still very low.