The Burden of Streptococcus pneumoniae Meningitis and Serotype Distribution in Vietnam

Huong Thien Pham^1,2,3*, Van Hung Pham^1,3, Nhu Hong Thi Tran^1,3, Duy Khanh Tran^1,3, Quoc Viet Nguyen^1,3

¹Vietnam Research and Development Institute of Clinical Microbiology, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam;
²Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam;
³NK-Biotek Co., Ltd., Vietnam

This retrospective descriptive study analyzed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) data collected at the Vietnam Research and Development Institute of Clinical Microbiology (VCM) from January 2024 to January 2026.

• 2982 CSF samples were obtained, 119 of which were positive for bacteria (4%). Among these, S.pneumoniae accounted for 35.29% (42/119).
• Serotyping was performed on 31 S. pneumoniae-positive samples, with 29 (93.5%) successfully identified. The most prevalent serotypes were 19A (n=5, 17.2%) and 34 (n=5, 17.2%), followed by 15A/F (n=4, 13.8%) and 15B/C (n=3, 10.3%). Other identified serotypes included 6A/B (n=2) and single isolates of serotypes 4, 11A/D, 12F/A/B/44/16, 14, 18, 19F, 23A, 23F, 24A/F, and 25A/F/38.
• Potential serotype coverage was 20.7% (6/29) for PCV10 (covering serotypes 4, 14, 18, 19F, 23F, 6B). PCV13 and PCV15 both showed a coverage of 41.4% (12/29) by including serotypes 19A and 6A. The broadest coverage was observed in PCV20 and PPSV23 at 51.7% (15/29), attributed to the addition of serotypes 11A and 15B.