scholarly journals Pneumococcus nasopharyngeal carriage in children attending an academic hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, after the introduction of pneumococcal vaccine

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charity Newton ◽  
Harry Maake ◽  
Caroline Maluleka ◽  
Siyazi Mda

Background: In 2009, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine was introduced in South Africa. However, there are concerns that this could lead to an increase in colonisation of non-vaccine serotypes (serotype replacement).Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 350 children aged 1 month to 14 years were enrolled at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital from December 2015 to April 2016. We assessed the prevalence of nasopharyngeal colonisation with pneumococcus and characterised the serotypes found.Results: The median age of the cohort was 33.7 months (interquartile range 16.27–69.5 months), with 20% being 1 year. A total of 21% of the children were diagnosed with pneumococcal-related conditions; among these, pneumonia was the most common condition. Less than half (43%) of the participants were fully immunised. Forty-six (13%) of the children were colonised with pneumococcus. Younger age was significantly associated with pneumococcal colonisation. Among those colonised with pneumococcus, 35% were fully immunised, 30% were partially immunised, 30% had an unknown immunisation status and 4% were unimmunised. Eight (17%) of the children who were colonised with pneumococcus had pneumococcal-related conditions. The commonest serotype identified was 6A/B. Overall, 2% of the cohort were colonised with vaccine-serotype pneumococcus.Conclusion: As a minority of children had evidence of nasopharyngeal colonisation with vaccine-serotype pneumococci, serotype replacement may be emerging in our population.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Kleynhans ◽  
Stefano Tempia ◽  
Meredith L. McMorrow ◽  
Anne von Gottberg ◽  
Neil A. Martinson ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Describing contact patterns is crucial to understanding infectious disease transmission dynamics and guiding targeted transmission mitigation interventions. Data on contact patterns in Africa, especially South Africa, are limited. We measured and compared contact patterns in a rural and urban community, South Africa. We assessed participant and contact characteristics associated with differences in contact rates. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study nested in a prospective household cohort study. We interviewed participants to collect information on persons in contact with for one day. We described self-reported contact rates as median number people contacted per day, assessed differences in contact rates based on participant characteristics using quantile regression, and used a Poisson model to assess differences in contact rates based on contact characteristics within age groups. We also calculated cumulative person hours in contact within age groups at different locations. Results We conducted 535 interviews (269 rural, 266 urban), with 17,252 contacts reported. The overall contact rate was 14 (interquartile range (IQR) 9–33) contacts per day. Those ≤18 years had higher contact rates at the rural site (coefficient 17, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 10–23) compared to the urban site, for those aged 14–18 years (13, 95%CI 3–23) compared to < 7 years. No differences were observed for adults. There was a strong age-based mixing, with age groups interacting more with similar age groups, but also interaction of participants of all ages with adults. Children aged 14–18 years had the highest cumulative person hours in contact (116.3 rural and 76.4 urban). Conclusions Age played an important role in the number and duration of contact events, with children at the rural site having almost double the contact rate compared to the urban site. These contact rates can be utilized in mathematical models to assess transmission dynamics of infectious diseases in similar communities.


2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. e2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Elise Amlie Hegertun ◽  
Kristin Marie Sulheim Gundersen ◽  
Elisabeth Kleppa ◽  
Siphosenkosi Gift Zulu ◽  
Svein Gunnar Gundersen ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Deep Jyoti ◽  
Pallvi Sharma ◽  
Ashu Jamwal ◽  
Arti .

<p class="abstract"><strong><span lang="EN-US">Background: </span></strong>Deviated nasal septum (DNS) is a common condition with various factors affecting its occurrence. The study was aimed to find the prevalence of DNS in newborns.</p><p class="abstract"><strong><span lang="EN-US">Methods: </span></strong>The present study was a cross sectional study conducted in the SMGS hospital, GMC Jammu. A sample size of 200 newborns, less than 7 days of age were included in the study. 200 newborns in the postnatal wards were examined in the present cross-section observational study including the age ranging from 1 day to 5 days.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong><span lang="EN-US">Results: </span></strong>Prevalence of DNS in the present study was 29%. 103 babies were born to the primipara mothers out of which 39 (37.86%) had DNS while only 19 (19.58%) out of 97 babies born to the multipara mothers had the DNS. The newborns with higher birth weight had higher incidence of having DNS. 41.17% of the newborns with weight of &gt;3 kg had DNS as compared to those in 2 to 2.5 kg group (17.28%) and &lt;2 kg group (11.76%).</p><p class="abstract"><strong><span lang="EN-US">Conclusions: </span></strong>DNS is a common finding since birth which may persist in later life. Routine examination of the newborns specifically regarding the nose should be done to detect the septal deviations at earliest so that active intervention can be done when required.</p>


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