Impact of Pneumococcal Vaccination in the Nasopharyngeal Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Healthy Children of the Murcia Region in Spain.

Background: An epidemiological study of Streptococcus pneumoniae nasopharyngeal carriage in healthy children was carried out five years after the introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13).

Objectives: Study the impact of pediatric vaccination with PCV13, and other associated epidemiological factors on the status of nasopharyngeal carriage, the circulating pneumococcal serotypes, and the antibiotic susceptibility to more frequently used antibiotics.

Methods: A multi-center study was carried out in Primary Health Care, which included 1821 healthy children aged 1 to 4 years old.