Persistence of Pneumococcal Carriage among Older Adults in the Community despite COVID-19 Mitigation Measures

• DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.04879-22
• Publication Date: 2023-04-10T14:02:04Z
• Authors: Anne L. Wyllie; Sidiya Mbodj; Darani A. Thammav...; Maikel S. Hislop; Devyn Yolda-Carr; Pari Waghela; Maura Nakahata; Anne E. Stahlfeld; Noel J. Vega; Anna York; Orchid M. Allicock; Geisa Wilkins; Andrea Ouyang; Laura Siqueiros; Yvette Strong; Kelly Anastasio; Ronika Alexander-...; Adriano Arguedas; Bradford D. Gessner; Daniel M. Weinberger
• Keywords: Carriage; Pneumococcal infections; Pandemic

Reported rates of invasive pneumococcal disease were markedly lower than normal during the 2020/2021 winter in Northern Hemisphere, first year after start COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about carriage pneumococcus among adults this period. Between October 2020-August 2021, couples Greater New Haven Area, USA, enrolled if both individuals aged 60 years and above did not have any under age living household. Saliva samples questionnaires regarding social activities contacts medical history obtained every 2 weeks for a period 10 weeks. Following culture-enrichment, extracted DNA was tested using qPCR pneumococcus-specific sequences