Antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus agalactiae of human and bovine origin

Abstract

Streptococcus agalactiae (SAG) is an important etiologic agent in a widespectrum of human and bovine infections. In humans, this pathogen is themain responsible of severe septicemia and neonatal dead, due to the diseaseknown as “neonatal sepsis”, which has been reported in differentcountries, including Colombia. About 36% of pregnant women are colonizedby this bacterium and of them, the 45% of the newborns acquire theSAG infection. In adults, asymptomatic SAG colonization occurs frequentlyin gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract. However, it can cause diseasessuch as meningitis, septicemia, abscesses, infections in urinary tractand arthritis particularly in immunocompromised adults. Additionally, SAGis considered a highly important pathogen in dairy production for beingresponsible of mastitis cases generally subclinical and chronic in cows,affecting the herd health, as well as the quality and the quantity of milkproduced. The main tool for SAG control is the use of beta-lactams antimicrobialsor macrolides in cases of penicillin-allergic patients. Some of thestudies reported resistant SAG isolates or with decreased susceptibility tothe antimicrobials used for its control in both species: humans and bovines.The finding of antimicrobial resistance in SAG is getting attention fromthe scientific community around the world because its negative impact inpublic health. The present work is a non-systematic review of scientificliterature, with the objective of analyzing the mechanism and prevalenceof SAG antimicrobial resistance, as well as, the genes associated to thiscondition in human and bovine isolates.