Evidence for the introduction of a multiresistant clone of serotype 6B Streptococcus pneumoniae from Spain to Iceland in the late 1980s.

Almost all of the multiresistant pneumococci that appeared suddenly in clinical specimens in Iceland between 1989 and 1992 belonged to serogroup 6. Fifty-seven of these isolates were analyzed for serotype, penicillin-binding protein pattern, multilocus enzyme genotype, and fragmentation pattern obtained by pulsed-field electrophoretic separation of restriction enzyme digests of chromosomal DNA. All isolates were of serotype 6B and had similar or identical patterns in each molecular test. The Icelandic isolates were indistinguishable from a subgroup of multiresistant serotype 6B pneumococci that has been present with high incidence in Spain during the past two decades. The data suggest the import to Iceland of a single multiresistant clone of pneumococcus, most likely from Spain.