Serotype 19A Variants of the Spanish Serotype 23F Multiresistant Clone of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Multiply-antibiotic-resistant isolates of serogroup 19 Streptococcus pneumoniae , possessing altered penicillin-binding protein (PBP) 1A, 2B, and 2X genes that are indistinguishable from those of the Spanish multiresistant serogroup 23F clone, are now commonly encountered in Spain. Those isolates that have been serotyped express type 19F capsular polysaccharide. Serotyping of further isolates, and hybridization using a serotype 19F-specific probe, has shown that some of them are serotype 19A, rather than 19F. The Spanish multiresistant serotype 19A, 19F, and 23F multiresistant strains were all shown to be very closely related in overall genotype, as they were indistinguishable by REP-PCR and by the sequencing of internal fragments of three house-keeping genes. The serotype 19A multiresistant strains, like the serotype 19F multiresistant strains, therefore appear to be a serotype variant of the Spanish multiresistant serotype 23F clone, which presumably has arisen by recombination at the capsular locus.