Pneumococcal disease in a paediatric population in a hospital of central Italy: A clinical and microbiological case series from 1992 to 2006

The study sustains pneumococcal disease relevance in children, on the strength of a 15 year observation. Long time period can represent a limit due to population characteristics changing; a selection bias could also be present due to hospitalized only patient analysis. However, we documented variable evolution of chemoresistance and a peculiar serotype spreading, offering microbiological basis for an appropriate clinical approach.