John Abenyeri, Ghana
Ghana Health Service Public HealthAuthor Of 1 Presentation
PREVALENCE OF VACCINE-TYPE PNEUMOCOCCAL CARRIAGE FIVE YEARS AFTER 13-VALENT PNEUMOCOCCAL CONJUGATE VACCINE (PCV13) INTRODUCTION IN GHANA (ID 663)
- Abass Abdul-Karim, Ghana
- Katherine Fay, United States of America
- Adam Zakariah, Ghana
- Fabiana Pimenta, United States of America
- John Abenyeri, Ghana
- Winfred Ofosu, Ghana
- Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Ghana
- David Opare, Ghana
- Badu Sarkodie, Ghana
- M Wardle, United States of America
- J Waldorf, United States of America
- Chastity Walker, Ghana
- Sopio Chochua, United States of America
- C. G. Whitney, United States of America
- Benard Beall, United States of America
- M.D Carvalho, United States of America
- Fernanda C. Lessa, United States of America
Abstract
Background
Outbreaks of vaccine-type (VT) pneumococcal meningitis, especially serotype 1 (ST1), continue in Ghana despite PCV13 introduction in 2012 (6, 10, and 14-week schedule) and coverage >85%. We assessed VT-pneumococcal carriage prevalence, focusing on ST1, during the 2018 meningitis season
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional nasopharyngeal (NP) carriage survey from February-July in three northern Ghana “meningitis belt” regions. Individuals aged 6 weeks-35 years with respiratory symptoms or clinical signs of meningitis were recruited from emergency departments across 6 hospitals. Pneumococci isolated from NP swabs were serotyped by Quellung; ST1 isolates were sequenced.
Results
Among 934 participants, 671 (71.8%) carried pneumococci. Overall and VT-pneumococcal carriage were 76.3% (464/608) and 21.5% (131/608) in <5 years, 67.4% (116/172) and 26.7% (46/172) in 5-14 years, and 59.1% (91/154) and 19.5% (30/154) in 15-35 years, respectively. ST1 colonization was lower in participants <5 versus ≥ 5 years-old (0.3% [2/608] vs. 3.1% [10/326]; P=0.001). All ST1 isolates were sequence type 217/303, but not closely related. Serotypes 3, 19F, 23F, 6A and 14 were the most prevalent PCV13-types.
Conclusions
VT-pneumococcal carriage remains common in Ghana, with ST1 colonization more common among those too old to have received PCV13. Vaccination strategies to decrease VT-pneumococcal transmission are needed.