Diagnosis of Penicillin Resistance by PCR-RFLP

Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important human pathogen causing a wide spectrum of disease including pneumonia, otitis media, bacteraemia, and meningitis. It is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and now penicillin resistance is becoming an ever increasing problem (1 -2 ). Initially, all S. pneumoniae isolates were exquisitely sensitive to penicillin and thus it was the drug of choice. However, the increase in resistance to penicillin seen in S. pneumoniae throughout the world has complicated treatment protocols. Penicillin resistance in S. pneumoniae also leads to some degree of cross resistance to other β-lactams, including the third generation cephalosporins and the carbapenems.