TY - JOUR AU - Marchisio, Paola AU - Esposito, Susanna AU - Schito, Gian Carlo AU - Marchese, Anna AU - Cavagna, Roberta AU - Principi, Nicola T1 - Nasopharyngeal Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Healthy Children: Implications for the Use of Heptavalent Pnemococcal Conjugate Vaccine T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2002 VL - 8 IS - 5 SP - 479 SN - 1080-6059 AB - We assessed the prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes in the nasopharynx of healthy children, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, risk factors for carriage, and the coverage of heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. In 2,799 healthy infants and children, the S. pneumoniae carrier rate was 8.6% (serotypes 3, 19F, 23F, 19A, 6B, and 14 were most common). Most pneumococci (69.4%) were resistant to one or more antimicrobial classes. The rate of penicillin resistance was low (9.1%); macrolide resistance was high (52.1%). Overall, 63.2% of the isolates belonged to strains covered by the heptavalent pneumococcal vaccine. This percentage was higher in children <2 years old (73.1%) and in those >2-5 years old(68.9%). Sinusitis in the previous 3 months was the only risk factor for carrier status; acute otitis media was the only risk factor for the carriage of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae. Most the isolated strains are covered by the heptavalent conjugate vaccine, especially in the first years of life, suggesting that its use could reduce the incidence of pneumococcal disease. KW - Streptococcus pneumoniae KW - nasopharyngeal carriage KW - epidemiology KW - conjugate vaccine KW - children KW - Italy DO - 10.3201/eid0805.010235 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/8/5/01-0235_article ER - End of Reference