Journal article

Impact of COVID-19 Nonpharmaceutical Interventions on Pneumococcal Carriage Prevalence and Density in Vietnam

ML Nation, S Manna, HP Tran, CD Nguyen, LTT Vy, DY Uyen, TL Phuong, VTT Dai, BD Ortika, AC Wee-Hee, J Beissbarth, J Hinds, K Bright, H Smith-Vaughan, TV Nguyen, K Mulholland, B Temple, C Satzke

Microbiology Spectrum | AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY | Published : 2023

Abstract

Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) implemented to contain SARS-CoV-2 have decreased invasive pneumococcal disease. Previous studies have proposed the decline is due to reduced pneumococcal transmission or suppression of respiratory viruses, but the mechanism remains unclear. We undertook a secondary analysis of data collected from a clinical trial to evaluate the impact of NPIs on pneumococcal carriage and density, drivers of transmission and disease, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Nasopharyngeal samples from children aged 24 months were assessed in three periods — one pre-COVID-19 period (n = 1,537) and two periods where NPIs were implemented with increasing ..

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Grants

Awarded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation


Funding Acknowledgements

We thank the study participants and their families, the study staff, and the laboratory staff at the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City and at the MCRI Translational Microbiology Group. C.S. and M.L.N. conceived this study with input from B.T. and S.M. B.D.O. and A.C.W.-H. conducted the laboratory analyses with oversight from C.S. J.H. contributed to the interpretation of microarray data. M.L.N. conducted the data analyses with input from C.S., B.T., and C.D.N. M.L.N., C.S., and S.M. prepared the original manuscript. L.T.T.V., T.L.P., and D.Y.U. coordinated the trial sites, with oversight from H.P.T. K.M. and T.V.N. are principal investigators of the vaccine trial, with contributions from B.T., H.P.T., K.B., V.T.T.D., C.S., H.S.-V., D.Y.U., J.B., and C.D.N. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript. The vaccine trial was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (grant number OPP-1116833/INV-008627). We also acknowledge the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. C.S. is a lead investigator, and K.M. and C.D.N. are coinvestigators on a Merck Investigator Studies Program grant funded by MSD outside this work. K.M. is a lead investigator, and C.S. and C.D.N. are coinvestigators on a Pfizer-funded study outside this work. C.D.N. is on a Data Safety Monitoring Board outside this work (no payment). J.B. prepared a report on pneumococcal serotypes for MSD outside this work. J.H. receives project grants from Pfizer that are outside this work and is a cofounder and board member of BUGS Bioscience, Ltd., a not-for-profit spin-out company (no personal payment). K.M. is a member of the WHO SAGE committee (no payment) and K.M. and C.S. are Board members of ISPPD (no payment). None of the other authors have any competing interests to declare.