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For information regarding reports of diseases, vaccine impacts on number of cases, etc.: https://www.cdc.gov/pneumococcal/surveillance.html

For information regarding global impact:
https://www.cdc.gov/pneumococcal/global.html

For information for those interested in the immunological aspect, see this publication:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24336054

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Images: Google Images "Streptococcus pneumoniae"

Video: Youtube Search "Streptococcus pneumoniae"

Weiser, Jeffrey N., et al. “Streptococcus Pneumoniae: Transmission, Colonization and Invasion.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 29 Mar. 2018, www.nature.com/articles/s41579-018-0001-8.

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According to the CDC, streptococcus pneumoniae is frequently resistant to several antibiotics. Treatment depends how severe the infection is, and relies on antibiotic resistant testing for the care-providers to know exactly which antibiotic to prescribe. Antibiotics, when properly prescribed, are effective treatments. Opting to get the vaccine to prevent infection in the first place results in fewer antibiotic resistant cases of infection (CDC).

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This publication describes S. pneumonia as an "... opportunistic pathogen that colonizes the mucosal surfaces of the human upper respiratory tract (URT). Up to 27–65% of children and <10% of adults are carriers of S. pneumoniae..." This is interesting because it means that this bacteria is capable of living a human without causing the disease, and will likely cause disease when said human is immunocompromised. This is what an opportunistic pathogen is, by definition.

This article also describes how prevention is a growing concern because the World Health Organization declared S. pneumoniae as "one of 12 priority pathogens" (Weiser et al).

Included in the article are excellent figures to demonstrate the spread and infection of pneumococcal disease.

Weiser, Jeffrey N., et al. “Streptococcus Pneumoniae: Transmission, Colonization and Invasion.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 29 Mar. 2018, www.nature.com/articles/s41579-018-0001-8.

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References

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Gwaltney, J. J., Sande, M., Austrian, R. & Hendley, J. Spread of Streptococcus pneumoniae in families. II. Relation of transfer of S. pneumoniae to incidence of colds and serum antibody. J. Infect. Dis. 132, 62-68 (1975).

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Diavatopoulos, D. A. et al. Influenza A virus facilitates Streptococcus pneumoniae and disease. FASEB. J. 24, 1789-1798 (2010). This study demonstrates the role of influenza virus in pneumococcal transmission in an infant mouse model.

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Rodrigues, F. et al. Relationships between rhinitis symptoms, respiratory viral infections and nasopharyngeal colonization with Streptococcus pneumoniae. Haemophilus influenza and Staphylococcus aureus in children attending daycare. Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. 32, 227-232 (2013).

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Hamaguchi, S., Zafar, M. A., Cammer, M. & Weiser, J. N. Capsule prolongs survival of Streptococcus pneumoniae during starvation. Infect. Immun. https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00802-17 (2018).

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Mitsi, E. et al. Agglutination by anti-capsular polysaccharide antibody is associated with protection against experimental human pneumococcal carriage. Mucosal Immunol. 10, 385-394 (2017). This study shows that the agglutinating activity of anticapsular antibody mediates protection from experimental pneumococcal carriage in humans.

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Karmakar, M. et al. Neutrophil IL-1beta processing induced by pneumolysin is mediated by the NLRP3/ASC inflammasome and caspase-1 activation and is dependent on K⁺ efflux. J. Immunol. 194, 1763-1775 (2015).

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Lysenko, E. S. et al. Nod1-signaling overcomes resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to opsonophagocytic killing. PLoS Pathog. 3, 1073-1081 (2007). This study elucidates how H. influenzae signalling via NOD1 enhances neutrophil killing of S. pneumoniae, leading to bacterial clearance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank J. Pagano for editorial assistance. J.N.W. is funded by grants from the United States Public Health Service (AI038446 and AI105168). Research in J.C.P.'s laboratory is supported by program grant 1071659 from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC); J.C.P. is an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. D.M.F. is supported by the Medical Research Council (grant MR/M011569/1) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (grant OPP1117728).

Reviewer information

Nature Reviews Microbiology thanks Sven Hammerschmidt and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Author information

Affiliations

1. New York University, New York, NY, USA

2. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK

3. University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

Contributions

All authors researched data for the article, substantially contributed to discussion of content, wrote the article and reviewed and edited the manuscript before submission.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeffrey N. Weiser.

To obtain permission to re-use content from this article visit RightsLink.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Streptococcus pneumoniae : transmission, colonization and invasion

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Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae on the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract is the prerequisite for transmission and tissue invasion. In this Review, Weiser, Ferreira and Paton summarize the mechanisms that allow pneumococci to transmit and progress from colonizer to pathogen.

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Can infection with S. pneumoniae be prevented? If so, how?

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Can infection with S. pneumoniae be prevented? If so, how?

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Good news! There are vaccines to help protect individuals from pneumococcal disease. The "pneumococcal conjugate vaccine" is PVC-13 or Prevnar-13. This protects against various types of bacterial infection. The CDC recommends the vaccines for children of various ages as well as for the elderly. Middle-aged adults are encouraged to get the vaccine if they have "certain medical conditions."
Infection occurs after exposure to someone with the infection. There are "more than 90 strains" of this bacteria that can cause infection, so the CDC still recommends getting the vaccine even if you've had the disease before. The strain you get the second time around may not be the same one that you got before, so it is best to err on the side of caution and get the conjugate vaccine when advised (CDC).

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There are three types of pneumococcal disease. Pneumococcal pneumonia, pneumococcal meningitis, and pneumococcal bacteriemia.

Symptoms of pneumonia (lung infection) include fever, chills, difficulty breathing, and chest pains.

Symptoms of meningitis (infection of brain/spinal cord tissues aka meninges) include stiff neck, fever, headache, confusion, and more.

Bacterium symptoms include fever, chills, and a lack of alertness. This can lead to sepsis (whole body infection), which can cause death.

Young children and the elderly are especially concerning when they contract a streptococcus pneumoniae infection because their immune systems are less competent at those stages of life (CDC).

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Streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacterial microbe, causes this disease among several others (CDC).

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It is a diseased caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae. This bacteria can cause several infections of the body including those of the ear and meninges. S. pneumoniae infection can become invasive, which means that it can enter the bloodstream and spread thorough the body, often causing meningitis. This calls for immediate treatment and can be lethal. Young children and the elderly are at a higher risk for contracting this disease than any other age group. (CDC).

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Visit the CDC's website for more information:

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Visit the CDC's website for more information:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Pneumococcal [noo-muh-KOK-uhl] disease is a name for any infection caused by bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus. Pneumococcal infections can range from ear and sinus infections to pneumonia and bloodstream infections. There are vaccines to help prevent pneumococcal disease.

Download "PneumoRecs VaxAdvisor" App for Clinicians

This free mobile app gives clinicians patient-specific pneumococcal vaccination recommendations from anywhere at any time.

Get the App

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Pneumococcal [noo-muh-KOK-uhl] disease is a name for any infection caused by bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus. Pneumococcal infections can range from ear and sinus infections to pneumonia and bloodstream infections. There are vaccines to help prevent pneumococcal disease. Download "PneumoRecs VaxAdvisor" App for Clinicians This free mobile app gives clinicians patient-specific pneumococcal vaccination recommendations from anywhere at any time.