Differences in the prevalence of pneumococcal carriage in sub Saharan Africa.

na- not applicable,a excluded studies with both sick and well when prevalence was not available by category.b all illnesses including pneumonia & upper respiratory tract infections.c PCV first licensed 2000,d WHO recommended calcium alginate & Dacro; p-values and prevalences based on meta-regression; N+ = no. of studies;Data were used from N = 55 studies. Three studies contributed data to all three age groups, five studies contributed to 15 yrs, 31 studies contributed to 15 yrs only. Settlement, season, population, swab route and swab type were not recorded in all studies, and for these variables we have used studies where data were available.