AI Article Synopsis
- A study was conducted to understand how common pneumococcus is in the upper respiratory tracts of older adults (65 years and older) living in the community in Nagasaki, Japan.
- Out of 504 participants, none tested positive for pneumococcus through culture methods, but 22 tested positive using PCR, resulting in a low carriage prevalence of 4.4% overall.
- The highest prevalence was found in saliva samples, and demographic factors like age did not significantly affect carriage rates among participants.
Article Abstract
Background: The carriage prevalence of pneumococcus among community-dwelling older adults is not fully understood, especially in superaged societies. Our purpose was to elucidate the carriage prevalence of pneumococcus in the upper respiratory tract among Japanese community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of generally healthy community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years in Nagasaki city, Japan. Demographic and clinical data and nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal and saliva samples were collected from February 21st, 2018, to December 17th, 2018. The specimens were tested by culture and molecular methods.
Results: Among a total of 504 enrolled participants, none were positive for pneumococcus by culture, and 22 were positive by PCR. The overall carriage prevalence was 4.4% (95% CI: 2.8-6.5%). The prevalence was highest in saliva samples, followed by oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal samples. No demographic characteristics were associated with carriage prevalence, including age (4.7% among participants aged 65-74 years and 4.1% among those 75 years and older). Among the pneumococcal-positive participants, 18.2% were PCV13-covered serotypes.
Conclusions: Our data suggest a low carriage prevalence of S. pneumoniae among community-dwelling older people in Japan.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.03.033 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!