title: Comparison of nasal swabs with nose blowing for community-based pneumococcal surveillance of healthy children.
abstract: The nasopharynx (NP) is the preferred site for detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae in young children, but NP sampling is not well tolerated. We compared nose blowing with paired nasal swabs. The sensitivity of nose blowing was 46% (95% confidence interval [CI] 38 to 56%), which increased to 94% (95% CI, 85 to 98%) for children with visible secretions.
authors.affiliation: Child Health Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. amanda.leach@menzies.edu.au
authors.forename: Amanda Jane
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Leach
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stubbs
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hare
authors.forename: Jemima
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beissbarth
authors.forename: Peter Stanley
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012424:Rural Population; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014505:Urban Population