Epidemiology and Infection
- Epidemiology and Infection / Volume 120 / Issue 02 / March 1998, pp 117-123
- 1998 Cambridge University Press
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ (About DOI), Published online: 08 September 2000
Invasive pneumococcal infection in South and West England
AbstractVariation in the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease across South and West England, in 1995, was measured through a survey of microbiology laboratories. A 100% response rate was achieved. The incidence by laboratory varied between 5·2 and 20·4 per 100000 catchment population (P<0·001). Adjusting for pneumococcal vaccine uptake rate in over 65 year olds, hospital admission rates, blood culture system used and for the age and sex structure of the population, did not account for this variation. When blood culture sampling rates were included in a logistic regression model, the variation between laboratories was much less and of lower statistical significance (P=0·019). Higher rates of blood culture sampling were associated with a higher incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease. Consistently high sampling should be encouraged because a higher diagnostic rate should result in more selective prescribing of antibiotics, and secondly because improved ascertainment of severe pneumococcal infections is a prerequisite for the evaluation of new pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. (Accepted November 11 1997)Correspondence: c1 Author for correspondence. Footnotes1 On behalf of PHLS South West, PHLS Wessex and NHS microbiology laboratories of the NHS South and West Region. |
