Streptococcus pneumoniae News and Research

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Streptococcus pneumoniae, or Pneumococcus, is a very common bacterial infection in both industrialized and developing countries. In particular, young children and the elderly represent high-risk populations of developing pneumococcal infections. According to the WHO, the bacterium kills up to one million children under the age of five years each year worldwide. It accounts for many Bacterial Meningitis cases in adults and it is the most common cause of Bacteraemia, Pneumonia, Meningitis and Otitis media in young children.

Researchers use bacterial strains to measure host gene expression in mouse model

The bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizes the nasopharynx and can cause pneumonia. Then, it can spread from the lungs to the bloodstream and cause organ damage.

16 Dec 2020

Study provides valuable interaction about animal host and pathogen during pneumococcal infections

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine published one of the most comprehensive analyses of how genes get expressed during infection (known as a transcriptome). The analyses include three different strains of the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia, meningitis, and middle-ear infections.

15 Dec 2020

Scientists provide insight on how lung bacteria protect against invading pathogens

New insight on how bacteria in the lungs protect against invading pathogens has been published today in the open-access eLife journal.

8 Dec 2020

COVID-19 patients at risk of fatal co-infection during ICU stays

Researchers in the UK have conducted a study showing that a high proportion of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) acquire a secondary bacterial co-infection during their hospital stay.

29 Oct 2020

Pneumococcal vaccine effective at protecting children against most severe type of pneumonia

A pneumococcal vaccine was effective at protecting children in Laos against the most severe type of pneumonia, a new study has found.

10 Sep 2020

Vaccine reduces race-based pneumococcal disease disparities

In a major public health success, the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine PCV13, or Prevnar 13, in 2010 in the United States is associated with reduction in socioeconomic disparities and the near elimination of Black-white-based racial disparities for invasive pneumococcal disease.

31 Aug 2020

Benefits of routine childhood immunizations far outweigh the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

The health benefits of maintaining routine childhood vaccination programmes in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic far outweigh the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission that might be associated with clinic visits, according to a modelling study published in The Lancet Global Health journal.

19 Jul 2020

UConn researchers tackle a vexing problem in the development of vaccines

Researchers at UConn's Center of Excellence in Vaccine Research have made a breakthrough in vaccine development for a common and difficult to treat pneumonia-causing pathogen. Their research was recently published in the Nature Partner Journal - Vaccines.

17 Jun 2020

WHO's new data reveals high levels of antibiotic resistance worldwide

WHO's first release of surveillance data on antibiotic resistance reveals high levels of resistance to a number of serious bacterial infections in both high- and low-income countries.

4 Jun 2020

New capsules are critical for addressing the rapidly changing bacteria, says expert

Vaccines that protect people from infection by Streptococcus pneumonia, which kills up to 1 million children every year worldwide, train the immune system to recognize the pathogen's thick sugar capsule.

19 May 2020

New and unexplored angle in the binding of SARS-CoV-2 to host cells

Researchers in the Netherlands, Cuba, and Italy have made important discoveries about the carbohydrate-mediated binding of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein to host cell lectin receptors and host lung microbiota.

17 May 2020

Universal childhood vaccination could prevent antimicrobial resistance

A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, published in the journal Nature in April 2020, reports that extending vaccination to all children could help resolve antimicrobial resistance - one of the biggest obstacles to effective healthcare in low-income countries. This is the first study to look at how vaccination is related to the use of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries.

29 Apr 2020

Tapping into the powers of nature to identify virus killers

Many organisms have to defend themselves against predators, diseases or pests. Their metabolic products constitute a chemical arsenal that has been used for medical purposes since time immemorial.

29 Apr 2020

Raw-type dog food contains high levels of multidrug-resistant bacteria

Microorganisms that infect animals, such as dogs, have the potential to jump to humans and cause illness. Zoonosis is a disease that can spread from animals to humans. These diseases pose health risks, mainly that some types can become life-threatening. Now, a study warns that raw-type dog food contains high levels of multidrug-resistant bacteria, which has the potential of transmitting the bacteria between dogs and humans.

21 Apr 2020

Research uncovers risk factors associated with pneumococcal carriage in Fiji

New research has uncovered the risk factors for Fijians carrying a pneumonia-causing bacteria.

8 Apr 2020

Novel, affordable pneumonia vaccine tested in human patients

A novel vaccine against pneumonia that is less expensive and more effective than those currently used in Brazil is being tested in human patients.

31 Mar 2020

New method will enable production of tailor-made vaccines

Vaccines can be far more targeted and effective than they are today. A new method will allow us to develop new vaccines more cheaply and efficiently and perhaps get one step ahead of bacteria.

13 Mar 2020

Novel drug to arrest antibiotic resistance by preventing micro-evolution

Desperate times need desperate measures. Accordingly, scientists, today published a new study in the journal Cell Host and Microbe in March 2020, showing that drugs that prevent the acquisition of DNA-borne antibiotic resistance traits from their surroundings by bacteria can stop mice from becoming resistant to the action of the antibiotics.

3 Mar 2020

Research opens up new prospects for prevention and treatment of bacterial pneumonia

Researchers from the Lille Centre for Infection and Immunity, INRAE and from Brazilian (Belo Horizonte), Scottish (Glasgow) and Danish (Copenhagen) laboratories have shown for the first time in mice that perturbation of the gut microbiota caused by the influenza virus favors secondary bacterial superinfection.