Seasonal variation in penicillin susceptibility and invasive pneumococcal disease.

We evaluated prospectively laboratory surveillance data from Massachusetts to investigate whether seasonal variation in invasive pneumococcal disease is associated with the proportion of penicillin-susceptible isolates. The proportion of penicillin-susceptible isolates associated with invasive pneumococcal disease varied by season, with proportions highest in the winter and lowest in the summer, and rates of invasive disease were highest in the autumn and winter seasons and lowest in the summer.