Serotype 19A and 6C Account for One-Third of Pneumococcal Carriage Among Belgian Day-Care Children Four Years After a Shift to a Lower-Valent PCV

Abstract Background Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) effectively reduce infection and asymptomatic carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine serotypes. In 2016, Belgium replaced its infant PCV13 program by a 4-year period of PCV10. Concomitantly, S. pneumoniae serotype carriage was monitored together with the carriage of other nasopharyngeal pathogens in children attending day-care centers. Methods From 2016 to 2019, a total of 3459 nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from children aged 6–30 months. Culture and qPCR were used for the identification of S. pneumoniae, Haemophilus influen... Mehr ...