Affiliation:
1. Department of Microbiology Ataturk University Medical Faculty Erzurum Turkey
Abstract
SUMMARYThis study was undertaken to determine the nasopharyngeal carriage prevalence of Haemophilus spp. in children aged 7–12 years in Erzurum, Turkey. Three hundred randomly selected students from three regions with different socioeconomic properties were included in the study. Nasopharyngeal swabs taken from the students were streaked into selective media for Haemophilus spp. Isolated colonies were identified by macroscopic and microscopic examination and their X and V factor needs determined. Those identified as H. influenzae were serotyped by specific capsule antisera. Haemophilus spp. were recovered from 51 (17.0%), nine (3.0%) of which were H. influenzae type b (Hib), 30 (10.0%) H. influenzae non‐type b, and 12 (4.0%) H. parainfluenzae. Results were evaluated by several risk factors such as age, gender, number of siblings, siblings attending a nursery, family smoking habits and family economic status.