Spread of Streptococcus pneumoniae and antibiotic-resistant S. pneumoniae from day-care center attendees to their younger siblings

A prospective study was conducted to determine the association between pneumococcal carriage among 36 infants and young toddlers cared for at home and carriage among their older siblings who attended 8 day-care centers (DCCs); 71 pneumococcal strains acquired by the younger siblings were compared with those present in the DCCs for 6 months. In 76% of cases, ≥ 1 strain identical by serotype and antibiogram was isolated in the older siblings' DCC versus 32%-63% in all other DCCs (P < .001). When phenotypically identical strains were compared by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, the similarity between strains from older siblings' DCCs and the younger siblings' isolates was striking. This was not found when isolates from other DCCs were compared. Vaccinating DCC attendees with a 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine may play a key role in controlling the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumococci, because the most resistant serotypes are included in the vaccine.