Streptococcus pneumoniae Nasopharyngeal Carriage among PCV-10-Vaccinated HIV-1-Infected Children with Maintained Serological Memory in Ethiopia.

Lemma M, Bekele Y, Petkov S, Hägglund M, Petros B, Aseffa A, Howe R, Chiodi F

Pathogens 9 (3) 159 [2020-02-25; online 2020-02-25]

Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) vaccines have substantially reduced the burden of invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPDs) worldwide. Despite high coverage with S. pneumoniae vaccination, upper-respiratory-tract colonization by S. pneumoniae is still common. We assessed maintenance of serological responses to S. pneumoniae serotypes included in PCV-10 by ELISA in HIV-1-infected children (n = 50) and age-matched controls (n = 50) in Ethiopia. We isolated S. pneumoniae in nasopharyngeal swabs and determined S. pneumoniae serotype by whole genome sequencing (WGS). Comparable levels of S. pneumoniae serotype-specific IgG concentrations were detected in plasma of HIV-1-infected children and matched controls, with geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) consistently higher than the protective threshold for PCV-10 serotypes of 0.35 μg/mL. We isolated S. pneumoniae from 38 (out of 97) nasopharyngeal swabs, 25 from HIV-1-infected children and 13 from controls. WGS based serotyping revealed 22 known S. pneumoniae serotypes and 2 nontypeable (NT) isolates. Non-PCV-10 serotypes represented >90% of isolates. We showed that HIV-1-infected children and matched controls in Ethiopia carry a level of maintained serological memory to PCV-10 considered protective for IPDs. We identified a higher proportion of nasopharyngeal carriage with highly pathogenic S. pneumoniae non-PCV strains among HIV-1-infected children compared to controls.

Clinical Genomics Stockholm [Service]

PubMed 32106620

DOI 10.3390/pathogens9030159

Crossref 10.3390/pathogens9030159

pii: pathogens9030159
pmc: PMC7157605