Antimicrobial resistance in Hispanic patients hospitalized in San Antonio, TX with community-acquired pneumonia.

Limited information is available on the antimicrobial resistance of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) depending on their ethnicity. Our aim was to compare the clinical characteristics, etiology, and microbiological resistance of Hispanic versus non-Hispanic white patients. A retrospective cohort of 601 patients with a diagnosis of CAP included 288 non-Hispanic whites and 313 Hispanics. Penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae was more common among Hispanic patients (21.7% vs 0%; P=0.03) but there were no significant differences in macrolide-resistant S pneumoniae, drug-resistant S pneumoniae, or potential or actual multidrug-resistant pathogens (eg, drug-resistant S pneumoniae, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas spp., and Acinetobacter spp.). There were no differences among groups in length of hospital stay, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, or 30-day mortality. This study suggests that Hispanic patients with CAP have a higher rate of penicillin-resistant S pneumoniae, but no differences in antimicrobial resistance, 30-day mortality, ICU admission, or length of stay when compared with non-Hispanic white patients.