Ron Dagan (Israel)
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
The Pediatric Infectious Disease Unit
Ron Dagan is Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. 1974: MD degree, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 1982: a 3-year Fellowship, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Rochester, NY 1987: Founded the first Pediatric Infectious Disease Unit in Israel at the Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva. Member of the Israeli National Academy of Science in Medicine Member of the National Advisory on Infectious Diseases and Immunization and of the National Advisory on Corona Vaccines. Founding Member of the World Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID) Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Honorary member of the European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). Has served on the Executive Committee of the International Society of Infectious Disease (ISID; 2010-2016) ESPID President (2004-2006) WSPID President (2006-2009) ISPPD President (2010-2016. Editorial board member of Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, Journal of Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Recipient of many grants and awards Contributed >550 original articles, reviews, book chapters Presented >600 papers at major scientific meetings. Professor Dagan has earned international recognition for his research, focusing largely on vaccine-preventable diseases, with particular emphasis on respiratory and pneumococcal diseases, epidemiology, and vaccines.

Presenter of 2 Presentations

 Conference Calendar

COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Pneumococcal-associated Disease: The Divine Experiment (ID 811)

Session Name
0800 - Plenary Session 07: Pneumonia and Pneumococcal Disease in the time of COVID-19 (ID 73)
Session Type
Plenary Session
Date
Thu, 23.06.2022
Session Time
08:00 - 09:30
Room
Grand Ballroom East
Presenter
Lecture Time
09:00 - 09:30

O015 - NASOPHARYNGEAL CARRIAGE OF PNEUMOCOCCUS (PNC-CAR) IN HEALTHY YOUNG CHILDREN DID NOT DECLINE DURING THE COVID-19 YEARS 2020-2021 IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL (ID 422)

Session Name
0330 - Parallel Session 03: Pneumococcal Disease and Pneumonia in the Time of COVID-19 (ID 25)
Session Type
Parallel Session
Date
Mon, 20.06.2022
Session Time
15:20 - 16:35
Room
Grand Ballroom East
Presenter
Lecture Time
15:35 - 15:45

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic, starting in Israel in March-2020, was associated with a marked reduction of both IPD and community-acquired alveolar pneumonia (CAAP; considered mostly pneumococcal), in young children. This coincided with a complete disappearance of specific pneumonia-associated viruses (RSV, hMPV, influenza) (CID, https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab1014). Social distancing was assumed to interrupt pneumococcal transmission. Starting in March-2021, an off-season CAAP resurgence occurred in young children, coinciding with a major off-season surge of hMPV and RSV (Danino, Abstract/ISPPD/2021; Figure-1A). We investigated PNC-CAR rates among children <3y, during 2020-2021, as an indicator of pneumococcal circulation in our community, vs. pre-Covid rates (2016-2019).

nasopharyngeal pneumococcal carriage in healthy young children.jpg

Methods

In this prospective study, nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from children <3y without respiratory symptoms and cultured for pneumoccous. Cultures were obtained daily, January-2016 through December-2021. Serotyping was done using Quellung. Semi-quantitative density was measured (Danino, CID/2021). Monthly rates during 2020-2021 were compared to mean monthly rates in 2016-2019. The study was interrupted March-May 2020, during lockdown.

Results

4,471/10,298 cultures (43.4%) were positive. No clear seasonality during 2016-2019 was observed, except for a small, but significant nadir, July-September. The mean PNC-CAR in 2016-2019 was 45 % (27% to 57%). During 2020-2021, overall PNC-CAR and density resembled those of 2016-2019 (Figure-1-B-C). No correlation of carriage with CAAP rates was observed. Serotype distributions during 2020-2021 and 2016-2019 were similar.

Conclusions

The results demonstrate that PNC-CAR rates did not decline during the COVID-19 pandemic in young children, ruling out disruption of pneumococcal transmission as a driver of the declines in pneumococcal-related diseases observed during the pandemic.

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