title: Modelling the co-occurrence of Streptococcus pneumoniae with other bacterial and viral pathogens in the upper respiratory tract.
abstract: Otitis media (OM) is a major burden for all children, particularly for Australian Aboriginal children. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Haemophilus influenzae and viruses (including rhinovirus and adenovirus) are associated with OM. We investigated nasopharyngeal microbial interactions in 435 samples collected from 79 Aboriginal and 570 samples from 88 non-Aboriginal children in Western Australia. We describe a multivariate random effects model appropriate for analysis of longitudinal data, which enables the identification of two independent levels of correlation between pairs of pathogens. At the microbe level, rhinovirus infection was positively correlated with carriage of S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis, and adenovirus with M. catarrhalis. Generally, there were positive associations between bacterial pathogens at both the host and microbe level. Positive viral-bacterial associations at the microbe level support previous findings indicating that viral infection can predispose an individual to bacterial carriage. Viral vaccines may assist in reducing the burden of bacterial disease.
authors.affiliation: Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, WA, Australia. peterj@ichr.uwa.edu.au
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jacoby
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Jacinta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Thomas V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lehmann
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology*; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology*; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification*