ABSTRACT
From 1989 to 1995, a total of 391 Haemophilus influenzae isolates were recovered from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of hospitalized patients in São Paulo, Brazil. The majority of strains were isolated from infants aged less than 5 years. Strains belonging to biotype I (64.7 per cent), biotype II (34.5 per cent) and biotype IV (0.76 per cent) were detected. Ninety-nine percent of these strains were serotype b. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for ampicillin, chloramphenicol and ceftriaxone. The ß-lactamase assay was performed for all strains. The rate of ß-lactamase producer strains ranged from 10 to 21.4 per cent during a period of 7 years, with an overall rate of 13.8 per cent. Of the 391 strains analyzed, none was ß-lactamase negative ampicillin resistant (BLNAR). A total of 9.7 per cent of strains showed resistance to both ampicillin and chloramphenicol; however, 4 per cent of them were resistant to ampicillin only and 2 per cent to chloramphenicol. All strains were susceptible to ceftriaxone and the MIC90 was 0.007 µg/ml, suggesting that ceftriaxone could be an option for the treatment of bacterial meningitis in pediatric patients who have not been screened for drug sensitivity.