Burden of bacterial upper respiratory tract pathogens in school children of Nepal

Abstract

Pharyngeal colonisation by <i>S. pneumoniae</i> was found high among school children and this calls for an urgent need to include pneumococcal vaccine in routine national immunisation schedule of Nepal given the high burden of invasive pneumococcal disease. Despite expected universal vaccination, pharyngeal colonisation by <i>C. diphtheriae</i> is possible and there is possibility of transmission of these respiratory pathogens to other healthy children.