Miellet, Willem Rvan Veldhuizen, JaniekeLitt, DavidMariman, RobWijmenga-Monsuur, Alienke JNieuwenhuijsen, TessaChristopher, JenniferThombre, RebeccaEletu, SeyiBosch, ThijsRots, Nynke Yvan Houten, Marianne AliceMiller, ElizabethFry, Norman KSanders, Elisabeth A MTrzciński, Krzysztof2023-05-092023-05-092023-04-171664-302X3713859910.3389/fmicb.2023.1156695http://hdl.handle.net/10029/626684Quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based methods were applied to detect pneumococcus and pneumococcal serotypes in 971 saliva samples collected from 653 toddlers and 318 adults. Results were compared with culture-based and qPCR-based detection in nasopharyngeal samples collected from children and in nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal samples collected from adults. Optimal C q cut-offs for positivity in qPCRs were determined via receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and accuracy of different approaches was assessed using a composite reference for pneumococcal and for serotype carriage based on isolation of live pneumococcus from the person or positivity of saliva samples determined with qPCR. To evaluate the inter-laboratory reproducibility of the method, 229 culture-enriched samples were tested independently in the second center.enCopyright © 2023 Miellet, van Veldhuizen, Litt, Mariman, Wijmenga-Monsuur, Nieuwenhuijsen, Christopher, Thombre, Eletu, Bosch, Rots, van Houten, Miller, Fry, Sanders and Trzciński.Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus)pneumococcal carriagepneumococcal serotypesquantitative PCR (qPCR)salivaArticleFront Microbiol 2023;14:1156695