Table 2.

Bacterial nose and nasopharyngeal carriage rates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by participant age group, recent RTI, recent antibiotic treatment and vaccination status

			Carriage of bacterial species within nose and nasopharyngeal swabs in different participant categories % (n) (95% CI)
	Participants (N)		S. pneumoniae		H. influenzae		M. catarrhalis		S. aureus		P. aeruginosa
Category	SS	HCP	Nose	NP	Nose	NP	Nose	NP	Nose	NP	Nose	NP
Age (years)
0–4	329	56	32.8 (108) (27.7 to 37.9)	33.9 (19) (21.5 to 46.3)	7.3 (24) (4.5 to 10.1)	10.7 (6) (2.6 to 18.8)	5.8 (19) (3.3 to 8.3)	10.7 (6) (2.6 to 18.8)	9.7 (32) (6.5 to 12.9)	5.4 (3) (−0.5 to 11.3)	2.7 (9) (1.0 to 4.5)	1.8 (1) (−1.7 to 5.3)
5–17	137	22	13.1 (18) (7.5 to 18.8)	9.1 (2) (−2.9 to 21.1)	5.1 (7) (1.4 to 8.8)	0.0 (0) NA	0.7 (1) (−0.7 to 2.1)	4.5 (1) (−4.1 to 13.2)	35.0 (48) (27.0 to 43.0)	13.6 (3) (−0.7 to 27.9)	0.7 (1) (−0.7 to 2.1)	0.0 (0) NA
18–64	464	88	1.1 (5) (0.2 to 2.1)	0.0 (0) NA	0.2 (1) (−0.2 to 0.6)	1.1 (1) (−1.1 to 3.3)	1.5 (7) (0.4 to 2.6)	3.4 (3) (−0.4 to 7.2)	24.8 (115) (20.9 to 28.7)	11.4 (10) (4.8 to 18.0)	1.3 (6) (0.3 to 2.3)	1.1 (1) (−1.1 to 3.3)
65+	306	143	2.0 (6) (0.4 to 3.6)	1.4 (2) (−0.5 to 3.3)	0.7 (2) (−0.2 to 1.6)	0.0 (0) NA	1.3 (4) (0.0 to 2.6)	2.8 (4) (0.1 to 5.5)	23.2 (71) (18.5 to 27.9)	15.4 (22) (9.5 to 21.3)	1.0 (3) (−0.1 to 2.1)	1.4 (2) (−0.5 to 3.3)
p Value			<0.001*	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.001	0.100	<0.001*	0.263	0.288	1.000
Recent respiratory tract infection
Yes	363	59	22.3 (81) (18.0 to 26.6)	15.3 (9) (6.1 to 24.5)	5.2 (19) (2.9 to 7.5)	6.8 (4) (0.4 to 13.2)	3.6 (13) (1.7 to 5.5)	3.4 (2) (−1.2 to 8.0)	19.3 (70) (15.2 to 23.4)	6.8 (4) (0.4 to 13.2)	2.2 (8) (0.7 to 3.7)	3.4 (2) (−1.2 to 8.0)
No	856	247	6.3 (54) (4.7 to 7.9)	5.7 (14) (2.8 to 8.6)	1.6 (14) (0.8 to 2.4)	1.2 (3) (−0.2 to 2.6)	2.1 (18) (1.1 to 3.1)	4.9 (12) (2.2 to 7.6)	22.3 (191) (19.5 to 25.1)	13.8 (34) (9.5 to 18.1)	1.3 (11) (0.5 to 2.1)	0.8 (2) (−0.3 to 1.9)
p Value			<0.001*	0.023	0.001*	0.028	0.163*	1.000	0.253*	0.188*	0.310*	0.169
Recent use of antibiotics
Yes	101	26	5.9 (6) (1.3 to 10.5)	3.8 (1) (−3.6 to 11.2)	1.0 (1) (−0.9 to 2.9)	0.0 (0) NA	1.0 (1) (−0.9 to 2.9)	3.8 (1) (−3.6 to 11.2)	15.8 (16) (8.7 to 22.9)	0.0 (0) NA	1.0 (1) (−0.9 to 2.9)	7.7 (2) (−2.6 to 18.0)
No	1118	281	11.5 (129) (9.6 to 13.4)	7.8 (22) (4.7 to 10.9)	2.9 (32) (1.9 to 3.9)	2.5 (7) (0.7 to 4.3)	2.7 (30) (1.8 to 3.7)	4.6 (13) (2.2 to 7.1)	21.7 (243) (19.3 to 24.1)	13.5 (38) (9.5 to 17.5)	1.5 (17) (0.8 to 2.2)	0.7 (2) (−0.3 to 1.7)
p Value			0.097*	0.706	0.515	1.000	0.508	1.000	0.203*	0.056	1.000	0.037
Vaccinations up-to-date
Yes	1017	265	12.8 (130) (10.8 to 14.9)	8.7 (23) (5.3 to 12.1)	3.0 (31) (2.0 to 4.1)	2.6 (7) (0.7 to 4.5)	2.8 (28) (1.8 to 3.8)	4.5 (12) (2.0 to 7.0)	20.4 (207) (17.9 to 22.9)	13.2 (35) (9.1 to 17.3)	1.6 (16) (0.8 to 2.4)	1.5 (4) (0.0 to 3.0)
No	40	10	5.0 (2) (−1.8 to 11.8)	0.0 (0) NA	2.5 (1) (−2.3 to 7.3)	0.0 (0) NA	2.5 (1) (−2.3 to 7.3)	10.0 (1) (−8.6 to 28.6)	25.0 (10) (11.6 to 38.4)	0.0 (0) NA	2.5 (1) (−2.3 to 7.3)	0.0 (0) NA
p Value			0.219	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000	0.389	0.548*	0.621	0.484	1.000

χ² (indicated by *) and Fisher's exact tests for independence were used to determine significant differences between bacterial carriage rates in different age groups, with/without recent RTI, with/without recent antibiotic treatment and with/without an up-to-date vaccination status. p Values are 2-tailed. 95% CI are written as (upper CI to lower CI).

NP, nasopharyngeal swab; NA, not applicable.