Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae in aged adults with influenza-like-illness

Incidence of pneumococcal disease is disproportionally high in infants and elderly. Nasopharyngeal colonisation by Streptococcus pneumoniae is considered a prerequisite for disease but unlike in children, carriage in elderly is rarely detected. Here, we tested for S. pneumoniae in nasopharyngeal and...

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Published in:PloS one 2015-03, Vol.10 (3), p.e0119875-e0119875
Main Authors: Krone, Cassandra L, Wyllie, Anne L, van Beek, Josine, Rots, Nynke Y, Oja, Anna E, Chu, Mei Ling J N, Bruin, Jacob P, Bogaert, Debby, Sanders, Elisabeth A M, Trzciński, Krzysztof
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Language:English
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Summary:Incidence of pneumococcal disease is disproportionally high in infants and elderly. Nasopharyngeal colonisation by Streptococcus pneumoniae is considered a prerequisite for disease but unlike in children, carriage in elderly is rarely detected. Here, we tested for S. pneumoniae in nasopharyngeal and saliva samples collected from community-dwelling elderly with influenza-like-illness (ILI). Trans-nasal nasopharyngeal, trans-oral nasopharyngeal and saliva samples (n = 270 per sample type) were collected during winter/spring 2011/2012 from 135 persons aged 60-89 at onset of ILI and 7-9 weeks later following recovery. After samples were tested for pneumococci by conventional culture, all plate growth was collected. DNA extracted from plate harvests was tested by quantitative-PCRs (qPCR) specific for S. pneumoniae and serotypes included in the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine (PCV13). Pneumococci were cultured from 14 of 135 (10%) elderly with none of the sampled niches showing superiority in carriage detection. With 76/270 (28%) saliva, 31/270 (11%) trans-oral and 13/270 (5%) trans-nasal samples positive by qPCR, saliva was superior to nasopharyngeal swabs (p
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0119875