Streptococcus pneumoniae
infections arising in hospitalized patients are often
assumed to be sporadic, and link
ed to community carriage. Here
, whole genome
sequencing was used to demonstrate nosocomial acquisition of an
timicrobially-
resistant ST156-9V
S. pneumoniae
in 3 respiratory patients resulting in two
bacteremias and one lower respiratory tract infection. Two of
the cases arose in
patients who had recently been d
ischarged from hospital and we
re re-admitted
from the community. Nosocomial s
pread was suspected solely beca
use of a highly
unusual resistance pa
ttern and case presentations within 24h of
one another. The
outbreak highlights a potential
for rapid transmission and shor
t incubation period
in the respiratory
ward setting.