Investigation of the role of nasal flora in the acquisition of pneumococcal

Researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), as well as colleagues from the University of Edinburgh and the Utrecht University Medical Center, investigated the impact of microbial or natural microbial flora. nose and viral coinfection on the acquisition of pneumococcus in good health. adults.

Streptococcus pneumoniae or pneumococcus is the major bacterial pathogen involved in pneumonia, a respiratory infection and a major health problem worldwide, causing more deaths in children under 5 than any other infection. In an article published today in the journal Nature Communications, the team studied, using the unique experimental model of the fight against human pneumococcus developed at LSTM, the relationship between the microorganisms present in nose, viral co-infection with live attenuated flu (LAIV) and pneumococcal vaccines. carriage. Using molecular techniques, the team discovered that the balance between the microbes in the nose and the host had an impact on pneumococcal acquisition and density, especially when it was badociated with viral co-infection. The microbial flora also seems to have an effect on the replication of the virus itself.

Daniela Ferreira, LSTM Professor, co-lead author of the journal, said, "We knew relatively little about the relationship between viral infections and the microbiota, and our model helped us establish a link between the initial microbiota and colonization. with the bacterium responsible for pneumonia.the way it is apparently modified with the introduction of a viral pathogen ".

Using the model developed at LSTM, the team was able to test it by safely inoculating live bacteria in combination with a live virus in the form of the readily available nasal flu vaccine.

Professor Debby Bogaert of the University of Edinburgh is also co-principal author of the paper. "Using this sophisticated model of human challenge, we have for the first time been able to identify that different constellations of microbes in the nose are badociated with more or less significant inflammation, viral replication, and responsivity. pneumococcal carriage ".

In particular, the identification of specific microbiota constellations that seem to control viral and bacterial acquisition, as well as the treatment of inflammation and infections, could facilitate the design of new preventive or therapeutic strategies for respiratory infections.

Source: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine