title: Prevalence of Haemophilus influenzae carriers in the Catalan preschool population. Working Group on Invasive Disease Caused by Haemophilus influenzae.
abstract: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of healthy Haemophilus influenzae carriers in a random sample of the preschool population in Catalonia. Oropharyngeal swabs were collected and cultured on chocolate agar supplemented with 260 microg/ml of bacitracin. Four hundred two of the 734 (54.8%) children studied were detected as Haemophilus influenzae carriers: 7 (0.9%) carried serotype b, 14 (1.9%) serotype e, 6 (0.8%) serotype f, and 375 (51%) carried nontypable strains. The results show that, although the prevalence of Haemophilus influenzae carriers is similar to figures reported from other countries, the prevalence of Haemophillus influenzae serotype b carriers is lower and corresponds with the low incidence of invasive disease observed in the Catalan community.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology, Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí, Sabadell, Spain. dfontanals@cspt.es
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fontanals
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bou
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pons
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sanfeliu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Domínguez
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pineda
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Renau
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Latorre
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sanchez
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006192:Haemophilus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology