Bacterial nose and nasopharyngeal carriage rates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by participant age group, recent RTI, recent antibiotic treatment and vaccination status
| Carriage of bacterial species within nose and nasopharyngeal swabs in different participant categories % (n) (95% CI) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participants (N) | S. pneumoniae | H. influenzae | M. catarrhalis | S. aureus | P. aeruginosa | |||||||
| Category | SS | HCP | Nose | NP | Nose | NP | Nose | NP | Nose | NP | Nose | NP |
| Age (years) | ||||||||||||
| 0–4 | 329 | 56 | 32.8 (108) (27.7 to 37.9) | 33.9 (19) (21.5 to 46.3) | 7.3 (24) (4.5 to 10.1) | 10.7 (6) (2.6 to 18.8) | 5.8 (19) (3.3 to 8.3) | 10.7 (6) (2.6 to 18.8) | 9.7 (32) (6.5 to 12.9) | 5.4 (3) (−0.5 to 11.3) | 2.7 (9) (1.0 to 4.5) | 1.8 (1) (−1.7 to 5.3) |
| 5–17 | 137 | 22 | 13.1 (18) (7.5 to 18.8) | 9.1 (2) (−2.9 to 21.1) | 5.1 (7) (1.4 to 8.8) | 0.0 (0) NA | 0.7 (1) (−0.7 to 2.1) | 4.5 (1) (−4.1 to 13.2) | 35.0 (48) (27.0 to 43.0) | 13.6 (3) (−0.7 to 27.9) | 0.7 (1) (−0.7 to 2.1) | 0.0 (0) NA |
| 18–64 | 464 | 88 | 1.1 (5) (0.2 to 2.1) | 0.0 (0) NA | 0.2 (1) (−0.2 to 0.6) | 1.1 (1) (−1.1 to 3.3) | 1.5 (7) (0.4 to 2.6) | 3.4 (3) (−0.4 to 7.2) | 24.8 (115) (20.9 to 28.7) | 11.4 (10) (4.8 to 18.0) | 1.3 (6) (0.3 to 2.3) | 1.1 (1) (−1.1 to 3.3) |
| 65+ | 306 | 143 | 2.0 (6) (0.4 to 3.6) | 1.4 (2) (−0.5 to 3.3) | 0.7 (2) (−0.2 to 1.6) | 0.0 (0) NA | 1.3 (4) (0.0 to 2.6) | 2.8 (4) (0.1 to 5.5) | 23.2 (71) (18.5 to 27.9) | 15.4 (22) (9.5 to 21.3) | 1.0 (3) (−0.1 to 2.1) | 1.4 (2) (−0.5 to 3.3) |
| p Value | <0.001* | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.001 | 0.100 | <0.001* | 0.263 | 0.288 | 1.000 | ||
| Recent respiratory tract infection | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 363 | 59 | 22.3 (81) (18.0 to 26.6) | 15.3 (9) (6.1 to 24.5) | 5.2 (19) (2.9 to 7.5) | 6.8 (4) (0.4 to 13.2) | 3.6 (13) (1.7 to 5.5) | 3.4 (2) (−1.2 to 8.0) | 19.3 (70) (15.2 to 23.4) | 6.8 (4) (0.4 to 13.2) | 2.2 (8) (0.7 to 3.7) | 3.4 (2) (−1.2 to 8.0) |
| No | 856 | 247 | 6.3 (54) (4.7 to 7.9) | 5.7 (14) (2.8 to 8.6) | 1.6 (14) (0.8 to 2.4) | 1.2 (3) (−0.2 to 2.6) | 2.1 (18) (1.1 to 3.1) | 4.9 (12) (2.2 to 7.6) | 22.3 (191) (19.5 to 25.1) | 13.8 (34) (9.5 to 18.1) | 1.3 (11) (0.5 to 2.1) | 0.8 (2) (−0.3 to 1.9) |
| p Value | <0.001* | 0.023 | 0.001* | 0.028 | 0.163* | 1.000 | 0.253* | 0.188* | 0.310* | 0.169 | ||
| Recent use of antibiotics | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 101 | 26 | 5.9 (6) (1.3 to 10.5) | 3.8 (1) (−3.6 to 11.2) | 1.0 (1) (−0.9 to 2.9) | 0.0 (0) NA | 1.0 (1) (−0.9 to 2.9) | 3.8 (1) (−3.6 to 11.2) | 15.8 (16) (8.7 to 22.9) | 0.0 (0) NA | 1.0 (1) (−0.9 to 2.9) | 7.7 (2) (−2.6 to 18.0) |
| No | 1118 | 281 | 11.5 (129) (9.6 to 13.4) | 7.8 (22) (4.7 to 10.9) | 2.9 (32) (1.9 to 3.9) | 2.5 (7) (0.7 to 4.3) | 2.7 (30) (1.8 to 3.7) | 4.6 (13) (2.2 to 7.1) | 21.7 (243) (19.3 to 24.1) | 13.5 (38) (9.5 to 17.5) | 1.5 (17) (0.8 to 2.2) | 0.7 (2) (−0.3 to 1.7) |
| p Value | 0.097* | 0.706 | 0.515 | 1.000 | 0.508 | 1.000 | 0.203* | 0.056 | 1.000 | 0.037 | ||
| Vaccinations up-to-date | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 1017 | 265 | 12.8 (130) (10.8 to 14.9) | 8.7 (23) (5.3 to 12.1) | 3.0 (31) (2.0 to 4.1) | 2.6 (7) (0.7 to 4.5) | 2.8 (28) (1.8 to 3.8) | 4.5 (12) (2.0 to 7.0) | 20.4 (207) (17.9 to 22.9) | 13.2 (35) (9.1 to 17.3) | 1.6 (16) (0.8 to 2.4) | 1.5 (4) (0.0 to 3.0) |
| No | 40 | 10 | 5.0 (2) (−1.8 to 11.8) | 0.0 (0) NA | 2.5 (1) (−2.3 to 7.3) | 0.0 (0) NA | 2.5 (1) (−2.3 to 7.3) | 10.0 (1) (−8.6 to 28.6) | 25.0 (10) (11.6 to 38.4) | 0.0 (0) NA | 2.5 (1) (−2.3 to 7.3) | 0.0 (0) NA |
| p Value | 0.219 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 0.389 | 0.548* | 0.621 | 0.484 | 1.000 | ||
χ2 (indicated by *) and Fisher's exact tests for independence were used to determine significant differences between bacterial carriage rates in different age groups, with/without recent RTI, with/without recent antibiotic treatment and with/without an up-to-date vaccination status. p Values are 2-tailed. 95% CI are written as (upper CI to lower CI).
NP, nasopharyngeal swab; NA, not applicable.