The prevalence of nasal carriage of streptococcus pneumoniae and haemophilus influenzae in children from birth to three years of age attending immunization clinics - abstract

ABSTRACT

The population comprised ninety-six "well" children less than three years of age attending routine immunization clinics in four health centres in the Port-of-Spain area. The aim was to determine nasal carriage levels of pneumococcus and haemophilus influenzae amongst these children. The children were "well" and had not received antibiotics within two weeks of sampling. Swab were taken, using nasal and per-nasal seabs and innoculated immediately on growth media. They were then cultured and the organisms identified and sub typed. The population had an average age of 9.6 months 52 percent were male. Fifty-three per cent of the children had a history of having had an upper respiratory tract infection within the 2 weeks preceding the specimen collection. Positive isolation of pneumococcus was obtained in 23 percent of the children. This result is surprisingly low and contrasts with levels ranging from 48 percent in North Carolina (Lada et al, 1974), and 53 percent in Dakar, Senegal to 100 percent in Papua, New Guinea (Gratten et al, 1984). Twenty-two per cent of the children yielded positive isolates of haemophilus influenzae. This again is a surprisingly low yield level. The accuracy of these results needs confirmation or refutation by further studies. Furthermore, the presence of other organisms, which could perhaps be the dominant organisms and which were not specifically cultured for in this study, needs to be considered (AU)