Modelling of endemic carriage of Haemophilus influenzae in Aboriginal infants in Northern Australia

Abstract

Aboriginal infants and children in rural communities in Northern Australia have high rates of nasopharyngeal carriage of nonencapsulated Haemophilus influenzae (NCHi), with positive swab rates of 76%. In this population, the acquisition of NCHi from soon after birth is associated with the onset of otitis media and with muco-purulent nasal discharge, while the long-term persistence of NCHi carriage is associated with the acquisition and turnover of large numbers of antigenically diverse strains. Mathematical models have been fitted to data on the acquisition and loss of encapsulated strains of H. influenzae and 43 different strains of NCHi in 10 children followed from early infancy for up to ..