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Serotype-specific invasive disease potential of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Czech children

Helena Zemlickova1, Vladislav Jakubu1, Pavla Urbaskova1

  • 1National Institute of Public Health, Šrobárova 48, 100 42 Prague 10, Czech Republic.

Journal of Medical Microbiology
|May 29, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Certain Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes, like 9V and 14, are more likely to cause invasive disease in children. Other serotypes, such as 6A and 23F, are more commonly found during carriage.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Microbiology
  • Epidemiology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Streptococcus pneumoniae causes significant invasive diseases in young children.
  • Understanding serotype-specific invasive potential is crucial for vaccine development and public health strategies.
  • Previous studies have indicated variability in the invasiveness of different S. pneumoniae serotypes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To estimate the invasive disease potential of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes in children under 6 years.
  • To identify specific serotypes associated with invasive infections versus nasopharyngeal carriage.
  • To characterize the genetic relatedness of invasive and carriage isolates using multilocus sequence typing.

Main Methods:

  • Comparison of invasive (n=138) and nasopharyngeal carriage (n=153) isolates from children in the Czech Republic.
  • Calculation of odds ratios (ORs) for individual serotypes to assess disease association.
  • Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was performed on 172 strains to determine clonal relationships.

Main Results:

  • Serotypes 9V and 14 demonstrated significantly higher odds ratios (ORs > 1), indicating a strong association with invasive disease.
  • Serotypes 6A and 23F showed significantly lower odds ratios (ORs < 1), suggesting an association with carriage.
  • Invasive serotypes (9V, 7F, 14, 1) were often associated with a single predominant clone, whereas carriage serotypes exhibited high genetic heterogeneity.

Conclusions:

  • Specific Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes possess distinct potentials for causing invasive disease.
  • Serotypes 9V and 14 are key targets for interventions aimed at reducing invasive pneumococcal disease.
  • The clonal nature of invasive serotypes contrasts with the diversity found in carriage isolates, offering insights into disease dynamics.

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