CARRIAGE OF HAEMOPHILUS-INFLUENZAE AND STREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE IN HEALTHY CHINESE AND VIETNAMESE CHILDREN IN HONG-KONG

Nasopharyngeal carriage of Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pn eumoniae was studied in 621 healthy Chinese children and 300 healthy V ietnamese children aged from 2 months to 5 years in Hong Kong. The car riage rate of H. influenzae type b in Vietnamese children was 1.3% (CI 0.04-2.63%); it was zero in Chinese. The carriage rate of non-typable H. influenzae was 5.8% (CI 1.4-7.6%) in Chinese and 65.4% (CI 58.9-69 .8%) in Vietnamese. The carriage rates of S. pneumoniae were 10.8% (CI 8.3-13.2%) and 55.7% (CI 50.1-61.3%) in Chinese and Vietnamese childr en, respectively. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression anal yses were performed to search for factors associated with differences in carriage rates of both H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae between Chin ese and Vietnamese children. Although older age, smaller living area a nd parental smoking were associated with higher carriage rates, these could not explain the remarkably low carriage rates of both bacteria i n Chinese children.