Serotype 19A and 6C Account for One-Third of Pneumococcal Carriage Among Belgian Day-Care Children Four Years After a Shift to a Lower-Valent PCV.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) effectively reduce infection and asymptomatic carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine serotypes. In 2016, Belgium replaced its infant PCV13 program by a 4-year period of PCV10. Concomitantly, S. pneumoniae serotype carriage was monitored together with the carriage of other nasopharyngeal pathogens in children attending day-care centers.

Methods

From 2016 to 2019, a total of 3459 nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from children aged 6-30 months. Culture and qPCR were used for the identification of S. pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Staphylococcus aureus and for serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility assessment of S. pneumoniae strains.

Results

S. pneumoniae colonization was frequ

SUBMITTER: Ekinci E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9909365 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature