Improving Vaccines Against Pneumococcal Disease

Streptococcus pneumoniae is far and away the most common cause of invasive bacterial meningitis, which although rare is most prevalent in children and has a 20% fatality rate. As a result, meningitis is the attention-grabbing pneumococcal disease which makes headline news, but pneumococci are also a leading cause of respiratory morbidity and mortality in the developing world, as well as a common cause of glue-ear or otitis media. Now, growing antibiotic resistance in this organism is concentrating attention on the need for effective vaccination strategies to combat the infection.