Analysis of Pneumococcus Carriage in Malawi

Photomicrograph of streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria revealing capsular swelling. This organism causes respiratory infections such as pneumonia and sinusitis, as well as bacteremia, otitis media, meningitis, peritonitis and arthritis.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common coloniser of the human nasopharynx, particularly in young children and in resource-poor populations. In 2008 it was estimated to be responsible for over 500,000 deaths in children aged 1–59 months. Developing countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, carry the highest burden pneumococcal disease incidence in children.

In 2011 Malawi introduced 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). The aim of the project is to analyse the variation in risk of vaccine-type carriage with age, adjusted for child-specific baseline characteristics, time since vaccination and calendar time of measurement. Data used were collected through 4 cross-sectional nasopharyngeal carriage surveys over a 16-month period in Blantyre, Malawi, commencing June 2015.

This is a collaborative research project conducted with Todd Swarthout from Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust and Neil French from from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.