Publications by authors named "Elske M van Logchem"
Our understanding of the normal variation in the upper respiratory tract (URT) microbiota across the human lifespan and how these relate to host, environment, and health is limited. We studied the microbiota of 3,104 saliva (<10 year-olds)/oropharynx (≥10 year-olds) and 2,485 nasopharynx samples of 3,160 Dutch individuals 0-87 years of age, participating in a cross-sectional population-wide study (PIENTER-3) using 16S-rRNA sequencing. The microbiota composition was strongly related to age, especially in the nasopharynx, with maturation occurring throughout childhood and adolescence.
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- A study evaluated the prevalence of Neisseria meningitidis carriage among college students in the Netherlands after the introduction of the MenACWY vaccine, using saliva and oropharyngeal samples for detection.
- Of the 299 students tested, 25% were identified as carriers of meningococci, with 20% detected through qPCR testing, indicating a comparable effectiveness of saliva and oropharyngeal sampling methods.
- The findings revealed low prevalence rates of various genogroups, with 8% of students carrying the vaccine-type meningococci, suggesting that saliva sampling combined with qPCR can effectively monitor meningococcal carriage.
The low biomass of respiratory samples makes it difficult to accurately characterise the microbial community composition. PCR conditions and contaminating microbial DNA can alter the biological profile. The objective of this study was to benchmark the currently available laboratory protocols to accurately analyse the microbial community of low biomass samples.
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