Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

Sec. Clinical Infectious Diseases

Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1467320

Provisionally accepted

Emanuele Amodio 1 Fabio Tramuto 1,2 Valerio De Francisci 1 Dario Genovese 1* Valeria Guzzetta 2 Vincenzo Pisciotta 1 Arianna Santino 2 Giulia Randazzo 2 Giulio Trapani 1 Giuseppe Vella 1 Francesco Vitale 1,2 1 University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy 2 Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico Paolo Giaccone, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

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Streptococcus pneumoniae is a prevalent and virulent global pathogen, with colonization being considered a precondition for pneumococcal disease. Understanding colonization is critical for gaining insights into transmission dynamics and developing effective interventions. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of nasopharyngeal colonization and serotype distribution in the Sicilian population. Methods: Observational study randomly selecting samples belonging to Sicilian individuals whose nasopharyngeal swabs were collected between February 1, 2020, and December 31, 2022. Pneumococcal colonization was determined using PCR for the pneumococcal autolysin (LytA) gene, and positive samples were serotyped. Results: The study sample consisted of 1,196 individuals, with 17.4% testing positive for the LytA gene. Pneumococcal colonization rates fell from birth to 24 years, with a peak in 0-4-year-olds (aOR=6.9; p

Keywords: Streptococcus pneumoniae, carriage, colonization, Serotypes, Epidemiology

Received: 19 Jul 2024; Accepted: 08 Nov 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Amodio, Tramuto, De Francisci, Genovese, Guzzetta, Pisciotta, Santino, Randazzo, Trapani, Vella and Vitale. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Dario Genovese, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

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