Publication date: Dec 05, 2024
Despite growing evidence of reduced invasive and non-invasive pneumococcal disease attributed to public health measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, the effect of these measures on pneumococcal carriage remains unclear. This study aimed to assess pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage among children and adults self-confined at home during the COVID-19 national lockdown in Spain while identifying predictors of pneumococcal carriage in children. Household study conducted across the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Spain) between April-June 2020. Nasopharyngeal samples were collected from young children and adults for real-time PCR pneumococcal lytA and wgz gene detection, quantification, and serotyping, as well as for detection of respiratory viruses. Among 332 children (median age: 3. 1 years [IQR: 1. 9-4. 0 years]; 59% male) and 278 adults (median age: 38. 9 years [IQR: 36. 1-41. 3 years]; 64% female), pneumococcal carriage rates were 28. 3% and 2. 5%, respectively. Highly invasive serotypes 3, 7F/7A, and 19A were detected in 14. 0% of samples from children carriers. Pneumococcal co-infections with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV), and influenza virus (IV) were not identified in children. Attendance to kindergarten before the lockdown (aOR: 2. 65; IQR: 1. 57-4. 47; p
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Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
| disease | MESH | pneumococcal disease |
| disease | MESH | co-infections |
| disease | MESH | influenza |
| disease | MESH | infections |
| pathway | REACTOME | Reproduction |
| disease | MESH | Carrier State |