Understanding and preventing pneumococcal meningitis

Current research

In many parts of the world, Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is now the commonest cause of bacterial meningitis in children, the elderly, and adults with specific underlying medical conditions. The organism is responsible for the most severe form of bacterial meningitis in terms of the degree of sickness and death. The prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pneumococci is increasing rapidly, and available vaccines have major shortcomings. Therefore, the development of effective vaccines providing universal protection represents the best prospect for preventing meningitis and septicaemia. However, to date, the factors that make certain strains of pneumococci cause meningitis in humans are not fully understood, but the interplay between the bacteria and the host is believed to be complex.

The proposed research is targeted at identifying the pneumococcal factors that enable this organism to cross the blood-brain barrier during infection to cause meningitis. We will be using "state-of-the-art" technologies to achieve our aims. The factors identified as crucial to the disease process could be incorporated into protein-based vaccines currently under development, to provide cheap, effective, and broad protection against pneumococcal meningitis, and invasive pneumococcal disease in general. Indeed, the strategy could potentially be applicable to the prevention of other forms of meningitis and associated infections in appropriate infection models. Our proposal has a focus on an outcome that will facilitate and advance the objectives of Meningitis Research Foundation to defeat meningitis and septicaemia through vital scientific research.