Non-Vaccine Serotype Replacement and Subdominant Persistence of Vaccine Types in Nepalese Infants Following PCV10 Introduction.

ABSTRACT: Background:Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of child mortality in Nepal despite the introduction of the 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10). Vaccine effectiveness is threatened by the emergence of non-vaccine serotypes (NVTs) and the multiple serotypes carriage which often fail to be detected by traditional methods. We aimed to study changes in serotype distribution before and after PCV10 immunization among infants, including serotype dominance in Nepalese infants in the post-vaccine era. Methods: We enrolled infants in a longitudinal cohort study (2020-2022) conducted in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected before PCV10 dose 1 (6 weeks) and at 9 and 12 months post-immunization. We used a sensitive nanofluidic qPCR platform to d

SUBMITTER: Domai FM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12846638 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature