Assessment of susceptibility testing practices for Streptococcus pneumoniae--United States, February 2000. (From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Most medical testing laboratories are following the recommendations of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards when testing samples of Streptococcus pneumoniae for its sensitivity to antibiotics. This bacterium causes pneumonia, otitis media, and meningitis, and it is becoming resistant to many antibiotics. For this reason, labs test the bacterium to see which antibiotics can be used to treat these infections.