Nasopharyngeal carriage of Haemophilus influenzae.
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2002-09-08
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Nasopharyngeal colonization of Haemophilus influenzae (H. influenzae) in young children may be important in developing countries.
METHOD: In this study, we screened school going children for carriage of H. influenzae. A total of 44 H. influenzae isolates out of a collection of 162 were characterized for biotypes, capsular serotypes and antibiotic resistance.
RESULTS: A significant proportion of H. influenzae (25/44) isolates were serotype b. High antibiotic resistance was observed against commonly administered antibiotics like ampicillin (79%), chloramphenicol (20%), trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (84%) and erythromycin (95%). Comparison of antibiotic resistance profile of nasopharyngeal isolates was observed to be correlated with those of H. influenzae from disease.
CONCLUSION: Multidrug resistant nasopharyngeal H. influenzae in young healthy children may act as reservoir. Monitoring of antibiotic resistance among nasopharyngeal H. influenzae as a surrogate for invasive H. influenzae seems an attractive option.
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Das BK, Arora NK, Mathur P, Ostwal P, Mandal S, Kabra SK, Kapil A, Lalitha MK, Thomas K. Nasopharyngeal carriage of Haemophilus influenzae. Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 2002 Sep; 69(9): 775-7