Pneumococcal concentration and serotype distribution in preschool children with radiologically confirmed pneumonia compared to healthy controls prior to introduction of pneumococcal vaccination in Zanzibar: an observational study.

Background: The World Health Organization recommends pneumococcal vaccination (PCV) in the first year of life. We investigated pneumococcal serotypes in children with clinical or radiologically confirmed pneumonia and healthy controls prior to PCV13 vaccine introduction in Zanzibar.

Methods: Children (n = 677) with non-severe acute febrile illness aged 2-59 months presenting to a health centre in Zanzibar, Tanzania April-July 2011 were included.

Household fuel use and its association with potential respiratory pathogens among healthy mothers and children in Ethiopia.

Background: Over 90% of Ethiopians still rely on solid fuels for cooking food. The pollution from the burning process causes adverse respiratory outcomes including respiratory infections. This study aimed to assess the association of the pollution with nasopharyngeal occurrence of potential pathogens.

Bacteria and viruses in the upper respiratory tract of Congolese children with radiologically confirmed pneumonia.

Background: Acute pneumonia remains a leading cause of death among children below 5 years of age in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), despite introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in 2013. Potential pathogens in the nasopharynx of hospitalised children with pneumonia have not been studied previously in DR Congo. Here we compare clinical characteristics, risk factors and nasopharyngeal occurrence of bacteria and viruses between children with severe and non-severe pneumonia.

High bacterial and viral load in the upper respiratory tract of children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Background: Respiratory pathogens including Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae, are implicated in the pathogenicity of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI). These are also commonly found in both healthy and sick children. In this study, we describe the first data on the most frequent bacteria and viruses detected in the nasopharynx of children from the general population in the Eastern DR Congo.

Carriage of penicillin-non-susceptible pneumococci among children in northern Tanzania in the 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine era.

Objectives: To determine the antibiotic susceptibility and serotype distribution of colonizing Streptococcus pneumoniae in Tanzanian children. Serial cross-sectional surveys were performed following the national introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in December 2012.

Methods: A total of 775 children less than 2 years of age were recruited at primary health centres in Moshi, Tanzania between 2013 and 2015, and samples were obtained from the nasopharynx.

High rate of antibiotic resistance among pneumococci carried by healthy children in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Background: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines have been introduced in the infant immunisation programmes in many countries to reduce the rate of fatal pneumococcal infections. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) a 13-valent vaccine (PCV13) was introduced in 2013. Data on the burden of circulating pneumococci among children after this introduction are lacking.