Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae in 221 healthy children aged 1-12 years in Dongcheng district, Beijing

Objective To investigate the nasopharyngeal carriage status of Streptococcus pneumoniae in healthy children aged 1-12 years and the serotype and the antibiotic resistance of the isolated strains. Methods From October 2010 to June 2011,nasopharyngeal swabs were collected every two months from randomly selected 221 healthy children aged 1-12 years in Dongcheng district to isolate Streptococcus pneumoniae and identify the serotypes and test antibiotic resistance of the isolates. Results A total of 220 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae in 32 serotypes were isolated, the cumulative carriage rate of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the healthy children was 57.47%. The serotype coverage rate of pneumococcal 7-valent conjugate vaccine was 36.82% and the serotype coverage rate of polysaccharide polyvalent pneumococcal vaccine was 64.55%. The antibiotic resistant strains accounted for 3.64%. Conclusion Healthy children aged 1-12 years are at high risk of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection. It is necessary to establish effective surveillance system and develop Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine which is suitable to use in China.