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. 2014 Oct 30;4(10):e005341. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005341

Table 3.

Bacterial self-taken and HCP-taken whole mouth swab 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 mouth swabs in different participant categories % (n) (95% CI)
Participants (N) S. pneumoniae
H. influenzae
M. catarrhalis
S. aureus
P. aeruginosa
Category SS HCP Self-taken WMS HCP-taken WMS Self-taken WMS HCP-taken WMS Self-taken WMS HCP-taken WMS Self-taken WMS HCP-taken WMS Self-taken WMS HCP-taken WMS
Age (years)
 0–4 329 56 1.2 (4)
(0.0 to 2.4)
3.6 (2)
(−1.3 to 8.5)
1.2 (4)
(0.0 to 2.4)
5.4 (3)
(−0.5 to 11.3)
11.9 (39)
(8.4 to 15.4)
35.7 (20)
(23.2 to 48.3)
2.4 (8)
(0.8 to 4.1)
0.0 (0)
NA
4.9 (16)
(2.6 to 7.2)
3.6 (2)
(−1.3 to 8.5)
 5–17 137 22 1.5 (2)
(−0.5 to 3.5)
0.0 (0)
NA
0.0 (0)
NA
0.0 (0)
NA
11.7 (16)
(6.3 to 17.1)
27.3 (6)
(8.7 to 45.9)
4.4 (6)
(1.0 to 7.8)
4.5 (1)
(−4.2 to 13.2)
3.6 (5)
(0.5 to 6.7)
0.0 (0)
NA
 18–64 464 88 0.0 (0)
NA
0.0 (0)
NA
0.9 (4)
(0.0 to 1.8)
1.1 (1)
(−1.1 to 3.3)
15.3 (71)
(12.0 to 18.6)
22.7 (20)
(14.0 to 31.5)
3.0 (14)
(1.5 to 4.6)
2.3 (2)
(−0.8 to 5.4)
1.7 (8)
(0.5 to 2.9)
2.3 (2)
(−0.8 to 5.4)
 65+ 306 143 0.0 (0)
NA
0.0 (0)
NA
0.0 (0)
NA
0.7 (1)
(−0.7 to 2.1)
13.1 (40)
(9.3 to 16.9)
30.1 (43)
(22.6 to 37.6)
1.6 (5)
(0.2 to 3.0)
1.4 (2)
(−0.5 to 3.3)
2.9 (9)
(1.0 to 4.8)
3.5 (5)
(0.5 to 6.5)
 p Value 0.006 0.063 0.204 0.159 0.476* 0.390* 0.361 0.377 0.079 0.910
Recent respiratory tract infection
 Yes 363 59 0.8 (3)
(−0.1 to 1.7)
1.7 (1)
(−1.6 to 5.0)
0.8 (3)
(−0.1 to 1.7)
1.7 (1)
(−1.6 to 5.0)
10.5 (38)
(7.4 to 13.7)
25.4 (15)
(14.3 to 36.5)
2.5 (9)
(0.9 to 4.1)
0.0 (0)
NA
3.9 (14)
(1.9 to 5.9)
5.1 (3)
(−0.5 to 10.7)
 No 856 247 0.4 (3)
(0.0–0.8)
0.4 (1)
(−0.4 to 1.2)
0.6 (5)
(0.1 to 1.1)
1.6 (4)
(0.0 to 3.2)
14.7 (126)
(12.3 to 17.1)
29.6 (73)
(23.9 to 35.3)
2.7 (23)
(1.6 to 3.8)
1.6 (4)
(0.0 to 3.2)
2.8 (24)
(1.7 to 3.9)
2.4 (6)
(0.5 to 4.3)
 p Value 0.370 0.349 0.701 1.000 0.054* 0.632* 0.850* 1.000 0.368* 0.382
Recent use of antibiotics
 Yes 101 26 0.0 (0)
NA
0.0 (0)
NA
0.0 (0)
NA
0.0 (0)
NA
14.9 (15)
(8.0 to 21.8)
23.1 (6)
(6.9 to 39.3)
3.0 (3)
(−0.3 to 6.3)
3.8 (1)
(−3.6 to 11.2)
2.0 (2)
(−0.7 to 4.7)
3.8 (1)
(−3.6 to 11.2)
 No 1118 281 0.5 (6)
(0.1 to 0.9)
0.7 (2)
(−0.3 to 1.7)
0.7 (8)
(0.2 to 1.2)
1.8 (5)
(0.3 to 3.4)
13.4 (150)
(11.4 to 15.4)
29.2 (82)
(23.9 to 34.5)
2.6 (29)
(1.7 to 3.5)
1.4 (4)
(0.0 to 2.8)
3.2 (36)
(2.2 to 4.2)
2.8 (8)
(0.9 to 4.7)
 p Value 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 0.761* 0.652* 0.744 0.360 0.764 0.554
Vaccinations up-to-date
 Yes 1017 265 0.6 (6)
(0.1 to 1.1)
0.8 (2)
(−0.3 to 1.9)
0.6 (6)
(0.1 to 1.1)
1.9 (5)
(0.3 to 3.5)
13.7 (139)
(11.6 to 15.8)
29.4 (78)
(23.9 to 34.9)
2.8 (28)
(1.8 to 3.8)
1.5 (4)
(0.0 to 3.0)
3.2 (33)
(2.1 to 4.3)
3.0 (8)
(1.0 to 5.1)
 No 40 10 0.0 (0)
NA
0.0 (0)
NA
2.5 (1)
(−2.3 to 7.3)
0.0 (0)
NA
5.0 (2)
(−1.8 to 11.8)
50.0 (5)
(19.0 to 81.0)
2.5 (1)
(−2.3 to 7.3)
0.0 (0)
NA
2.5 (1)
(−2.3 to 7.3)
0.0 (0)
NA
 p Value 1.000 1.000 0.237 1.000 0.153* 0.175 1.000 1.000 1.000 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).

NA, not applicable; WMS, whole mouth swab.