What is the concern about antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae?

Antibiotic-resistant pneumococcal infections are difficult and expensive to treat. Treatment failures for disease caused by antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae have been reported. Antibiotic-resistant S. pneumoniae infections may require higher doses of antibiotic, longer duration of treatment and hospitalization, the use of more expensive medications, or use of medications with greater side-effect potential. The spread of these resistant bacteria increased dramatically during the 1990s. Understanding the evolution of resistant pneumococci and their spread among people is critical to developing effective prevention strategies and is an extremely important public health priority.