摘要：Streptococcus pneumoniae causes pneumonia, otitis media and meningitis. Reports of penicillinresistance and the development of vaccines highlight the need for baseline information aboutpneumococcal disease in Australia. We surveyed Perth teaching hospital laboratory recordsfor the period 1990 to 1994 for isolates of S. pneumoniae recovered from normally sterile sites,and obtained isolate and patient demographic information. Highest rates of invasive diseasewere found at the extremes of age and were associated with Aboriginality. Isolates were rarelypenicillin resistant. Surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease will be of importance inmonitoring the emergence of penicillin resistance and the impact of conjugate vaccines
