Nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern among school children in South Ethiopia: post-vaccination era

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate nasopharyngeal carriage rate and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Streptococcus pneumoniae among school children. RESULTS: Three hundred eleven (43.8%) became culture positive for S. pneumoniae. The carriage rate among children, 3-5 years old was 62.5%, which was higher than the carriage rate of 38.6% among 6-13 years old children. Age ≤ 5 years and co-sleeping with siblings remained significantly associated with S. pneumoniae carriage. 155 (49.8%) of the isolates were resistant to co-trimoxazole, 152 (48.9%) of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline, and 88 (28.3%) of isolates were resistant to oxacillin. Multi drug resistant S. pneumoniae was observed in 90 (28.9%) of isolates. There is high prevalence of S. pneumoniae in primary school children in our study area. Relatively high carriage rate of resistance to oxacillin, tetracycline and co-trimoxazole were observed. These findings provide baseline data for future studies to further compare pneumococcal carriage rates and antibiotic resistance patterns.