Carriage of Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae in healthy Chinese and Vietnamese children in Hong Kong

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal carriage of Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae was studied in 621 healthy Chinese children and 300 healthy Vietnamese children aged from 2 months to 5 years in Hong Kong. The carriage rate of H. influenzae type b in Vietnamese children was 1.3% (CI 0.04-2.63); it was zero in Chinese. The carriage rate of non-typable H. influenzae was 5.8% (CI 1.4-7.6%) in Chinese and 65.4% (CI 58.9-69.8%) in Vietnamese. The carriage rates of S. pneumoniae were 10.8% (CI 8.3-13.2%) and 55.7% (CI 50.1-61.3%) in Chinese and Vietnamese children, respectively. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to search for factors associated with differences in carriage rates of both H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae between Chinese and Vetnamese children. Although older age, smaller living area and parental smoking were associated with higher carriage rates, these could not explain the remarkably low carriage rates of both bacteria in Chinese children.