2021 Volume 124 Issue 2 Pages 109-121
In adult patients with acute rhinosinusitis, living with a group of nursery school children and children of that age group is regarded as a risk factor for the development of drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (DRSP). Changes have been observed in the rates of detection of S. pneumoniae in these infants before and after introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). It has been reported that the frequency of DRSP detection in infants decreased significantly after introduction of the vaccine. Prior to introduction of the vaccine, the frequency of detection of DRSP in nursery school children was higher than that in the non-enrolled children. Furthermore, the frequency of detection of DRSP was higher in nursery school children <2 years of age as compared to those aged ≥
2 years. However, after introduction of the vaccine, these differences disappeared. I retrospectively investigated the detection frequency of DRSP in adult cases of acute rhinosinusitis associated with these trends with respect to that in infants and changes in the background factors for DRSP detection. The participants comprised 188 patients with acute rhinosinusitis in whom S. pneumoniae was detected between 2007 and 2009 (period I), prior to introduction of the PCV, and 202 persons enrolled three years after the introduction of PCV13, from 2017 to 2019 (period II). The results indicated that in period II, the frequency of detection of DRSP was significantly lower and that living with a group of nursery school children and children of this age group was no longer a risk factor for the detection of DRSP. Although herd immunity could be a cause for these trends, it is necessary to examine the relationship between the serotypes covered by PCV and the serotypes of S. pneumoniae detected in the adult patients with acute rhinosinusitis.
