Molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of pneumococcal carriage among children in Beni State, Bolivia

During 2007, a study of pneumococcal carriage in children was performed in two towns (Trinidad and Riberalta) in the Beni region of the Bolivian Amazon basin. Little has previously been reported regarding the epidemiology of pneumococcal carriage in Bolivia, and no multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of pneumococcal isolates from this region has previously been documented. A pneumococcal carriage rate of 34% was identified. Of 53 Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates that survived transportation for serotyping, antibiotic susceptibility testing and MLST, the commonest serotypes were 6A (9%), 34 (8%), 4 (6%), 9A (6%), 10A (6%), 19A (6%), 23F (6%) and 38 (6%); overall, 26 different serotypes were identified. Antibiotic susceptibility testing by Etest demonstrated high levels of susceptibility to penicillin (93%), erythromycin (98%), vancomycin (100%), chloramphenicol (100%), tetracycline (96%) and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (co-trimoxazole) (85%). MLST identified that the majority (57%) of viable isolates belonged to previously unrecognised sequence types that are currently unique to Bolivia.