Background: Pneumococcal nasopharyngeal colonization is a pre-requisite for pneumococcal disease; the risk for pneumococcal disease is high in children born to women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We investigated pneumococcal colonization, serotype distribution and antibiotic susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates carried by perinatal HIV-infected and HIV-exposed-uninfected (HEU) children.Serial nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 331 HIV-infected and 491 HEU children, at up to 6 scheduled timepoints, between median ages of 25 to 181 weeks.

Author List: Nunes MC, Kim S, Zeldow B, Violari A, Dittmer S, Cassim H, Thomas T, van Niekerk N, Cotton MF, Mitchell C, Adrian P, Madhi SA; P1041 team.

Journal Name: Medicine (Baltimore). 2020 Feb;99(9):e19353. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000019353. PMID: 32118776; PMCID: PMC7478396.