[Prevalence of potentially pathogenic bacteria in nasopharynx of healthy children attending a day care center in Havana City].

During the first six-month period of 2001, a descriptive cross-sectional study of carriage in healthy children attending a day-care center in Havana City was performed. The objective was to find out the prevalence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and its association with possible risk factors. The design took into account the international and domestic regulatory bioethical requirements. Swabs of posterior nasopharynx of 160 children were directly cultured in brain heart agar plus sheep blood and in brain heart agar plus NAD, hemine and bacitracin and incubated for 18-24 h. Resulting isolates were identified using conventional techniques and the API NH system. Male children aged 3-4 years were predominant. A high percentage of nasopharyngeal carriage was detected; Haemophilus was isolated in 92.50% of cases, being Haemophilus influenzae present in 54.72% of children. Other pathogens were Streptococcus pneumoniae, beta-hemolythic Streptococcus, Staphylococcus aureus and Moraxella catarrhalis. A statistically significant difference was observed when comparing S. pneumoniae carriage and non-carriage in less than 2 years-old children. The colonizing patterns of potentially pathogenic bacteria were disclosed in children attending a day care center in Havana City.