TITLE:
Streptococcus pneumoniae Upper Respiratory Carriage in Costa Rican Children with Otitis Media before the Introduction of the Heptavalent Conjugated Vaccine in the National Immunization Program
AUTHORS:
Catalina Ulloa, Alfonso Pereira, Carolina Soley, Nurith Porat, Arturo Abdelnour, Ron Dagan, Adriano Arguedas
KEYWORDS:
Streptococcus pneumoniae; Serotypes; Nasopharynx; Oropharynx; Pneumococcal Conjugated Vaccine
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Vaccines,
Vol.3 No.2,
May
22,
2013
ABSTRACT: Objective: The
aim of this study was to analyze the NP/OP S.
pneumoniae serotype distribution and potential vaccine coverage in Costa
Rican children with Otitis Media (OM) before the introduction of PCV-7 in the National Immunization Program
(NIP). Methods: Between 2002 and
2006, NP and OP samples were obtained from 641 children from 6 to 79 months of
age, at the time of OM diagnosis. S.
pneumoniae serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility were performed. Results: 386 S. pneumoniae isolates were recovered. The most common S. pneumoniae serotypes (ST) were: ST
6B, ST 14, ST 19F.
Penicillin non-susceptibility was observed among 57% of the isolates obtained
from children Conclusions: S. pneumoniae was isolated from the NP
and/or OP in the majority (59%) of studied children with OM. At a statistical
significant level, only serotype 3 was more frequently isolated among children
>24 months of age. Antibiotic non-susceptibility and MDR were significantly
higher in children