Pneumococcal colonization in healthy adult research participants in the conjugate vaccine era, United Kingdom, 2010-2017

Pneumococcal colonization is rarely studied in adults, except as part of family surveys. We report the outcomes of colonization screening in healthy adults (all were nonsmokers without major comorbidities or contact with children aged <5 years) who had volunteered to take part in clinical research. Using nasal wash culture, we detected colonization in 6.5% of volunteers (52 of 795). Serotype 3 was the commonest serotype (10 of 52 isolates). The majority of the remaining serotypes (35 of 52 isolates) were nonvaccine serotypes, but we also identified persistent circulation of serotypes 19A and 19F. Resistance to at least 1 of 6 antibiotics tested was found in 8 of 52 isolates.