Table 3. Differences in the prevalence of pneumococcal carriage in sub Saharan Africa.
| Prevalence (95%CI) | |||||||||
| N+ | Children <5 years | pvalue | N | Children 5–15 years | pvalue | N | Adults >15 years | pvalue | |
| Region | |||||||||
| East | 8 | 64.5(43.5–85.5) | 0.73 | 4 | 42.5(−4.2–89.2) | 0.72 | 2 | 12.2(−61.5–85.9) | 0.06 |
| Central | 1 | 71.2 | 6 | 36.1(19.6–52.6) | 0 | - | |||
| Southern | 15 | 56.4(44.8–67.9) | 0 | - | 5 | 9.3(7.8–10.9) | |||
| West | 15 | 68.8(55.3–82.) | 3 | 54.9(−35.0–144.8) | 6 | 49.3(19.2–79.3) | |||
| Settlement | |||||||||
| Rural | 16 | 80.2(70.5–89.9) | <0.0001 | 5 | 55.7(16.1–95.3) | 0.26 | 6 | 32.9(1.8–63.9) | 0.44 |
| Urban | 15 | 53.4(45.2–61.7) | 5 | 35.3(13.4–57.2) | 4 | 19.5(−3.7–42.7) | |||
| Season | |||||||||
| Dry | 13 | 64.7(54.8–74.6) | 0.54 | 5 | 31.4(11.4–51.3) | na | 3 | 9.6(6.6–12.6) | na |
| Rainy | 6 | 58.4(31.1–85.9) | 0 | - | 0 | - | |||
| Population a | |||||||||
| Well | 21 | 69.2(59.5–78.9) | 0.11 | 8 | 44.3(19.1–69.5) | 0.97 | 9 | 36.1(13.1–59.1) | 0.33 |
| Sickb | 10 | 64.3(50.2–78.4) | 3 | 35.5(−1.7–72.7) | 0 | - | |||
| HIV | 1 | 22.2 | 1 | 55.0 | 2 | 13.3(−45.1–71.7) | |||
| Year c | |||||||||
| Before 2000 | 19 | 63.7(54.4–72.9) | 0.92 | 5 | 34.9(12.4–57.3) | 0.39 | 4 | 10.8(7.7–13.8) | 0.22 |
| After 2000 | 20 | 62.8(50.4–75.3) | 8 | 47.5(24.3–70.8) | 9 | 34.8(11.2–58.3) | |||
| Swab route | |||||||||
| NPS | 37 | 64.6(57.1–72.2) | na | 11 | 48.1(32.8–63.3) | 0.06 | 11 | 31.2(11.9–50.5) | 0.67 |
| OPS | 0 | - | 2 | 13.3(−20.2–46.1) | 1 | 18.0 | |||
| Swab type | |||||||||
| WHOd | 21 | 60.9(50.5–71.3) | 6 | 45.5(22.1–68.9) | 6 | 22.3(−6.4–51.0) | |||
| Others | 10 | 59.9(44.1–75.8) | 0.91 | 5 | 36.9. (8.1–65.8) | 0.55 | 6 | 26.3(3.84–48.9) | 0.78 |
na- not applicable,
a excluded studies with both sick and well when prevalence was not available by category.
b all illnesses including pneumonia & upper respiratory tract infections.
c PCV first licensed 2000,
d WHO recommended calcium alginate & Dacro; p-values and prevalences based on meta-regression; N+ = no. of studies;
Data were used from N = 55 studies. Three studies contributed data to all three age groups, five studies contributed to <5 yrs and >15 yrs, 31 studies contributed to <5 yrs only, 10 studies contributed to 5–15 yrs only, and five studies contributed to >15 yrs only. Settlement, season, population, swab route and swab type were not recorded in all studies, and for these variables we have used studies where data were available.