Increased Resistance in the Pneumococcus

Microbiologists who are interested in antimicrobial agents and physicians who are called upon to treat patients with bacterial infections have become accustomed to expect resistance to develop or emerge against any newly introduced, highly active and useful antibiotic. Increasing numbers of resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and, more recently, gram-negative bacilli have been noted. Staphylococci resistant to penicillin (benzyl-penicillin or penicillin G) were noted early after this antibiotic first came into use, but the full extent of the problem created by this phenomenon became apparent only after a few years of intensive use of this agent. Likewise, although . . .