Table 1. Colonisation rates of the four respiratory pathogens alone and in combination in the three different age groups.

	Nurseries (1-3y) n = 336		DCCs (3-6y) n = 186		Primary school (6-13y) n = 58
Non-carriers	54	(16.1%)	60	(32.3%)	24	(41.4%)
Carriers	282	(83.9%)	126	(67.7%)	34	(58.6%)
Carriers of one pathogen	109	(32.4%)	71	(38.2%)	28	(48.3%)
S. aureus	10	(3.0%)	30	(16.1%)	24	(41.4%)
S. pneumoniae	26	(7.7%)	9	(4.8%)	1	(1.7%)
M. catarrhalis	54	(16.1%)	28	(15.1%)	3	(5.2%)
H. influenzae	19	(5.7%)	4	(2.2%)	0	(0.0%)
Carriers of two pathogens	111	(33.0%)	38	(20.4%)	4	(6.9%)
S. pneumoniae + S. aureus	2	(0.6%)	3	(1.6%)	0	(0.0%)
S. pneumoniae + M. catarrhalis	61	(18.2%)	8	(4.3%)	1	(1.7%)
S. pneumoniae + H. influenzae	17	(5.1%)	5	(2.7%)	0	(0.0%)
M. catarrhalis + H. influenzae	20	(6.0%)	9	(4.8%)	0	(0.0%)
S. aureus + M. catarrhalis	8	(2.4%)	10	(5.4%)	3	(5.2%)
S. aureus + H. influenzae	3	(0.9%)	3	(1.6%)	0	(0.0%)
Carriers of three pathogens	60	(17.9%)	12	(6.5%)	2	(3.4%)
M. catarrhalis + H. influenzae + S. pneumoniae	47	(14.0%)	7	(3.8%)	0	(0.0%)
S. pneumoniae + S. aureus + M. catarrhalis	6	(1.8%)	1	(0.5%)	2	(3.4%)
S. pneumoniae + S. aureus + H. influenzae	3	(0.9%)	2	(1.1%)	0	(0.0%)
S. aureus + M. catarrhalis + H. influenzae	4	(1.2%)	2	(1.1%)	0	(0.0%)
Carriers of four pathogens	2	(0.6)	5	(2.7%)	0	(0.0%)