A scientific breakthrough could pave the way for the development of vaccines against pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia, researchers have said.
The discovery by scientists in Leicester and Dublin changes understanding of how the body’s immune system responds to infection caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae.
The bacteria causes a range of infections including pneumonia and meningitis, and it is hoped the discovery will lead to the development of more effective vaccines.
Pneumonia
The research, jointly led by Dr Aras Kadioglu from the University of Leicester and Dr Ed Lavelle from Trinity College Dublin, with Dr Edel McNeela of TCD as its lead author, has been published in the international peer-reviewed journal PLoS Pathogens.
The teams said they found that pneumolysin, the toxin in the bacteria, also triggers an immune response. It activates a recently-discovered group of proteins – the NLRP3 inflammasome – which then provides protection against infection.
Pneumonia
They said the paper is the first to demonstrate that the NLRP3 inflammasome is essential to the immune response against infection, and pneumolysin is the key driver of the process.
Dr Kadioglu said there is currently a vaccine that protects against seven different strains of the bug – but not one that can protect against all 92.
Pneumonia
He said: “What we have discovered is that this toxin unusually activates parts of your host immune system. What we have shown is that this toxin actually activates this group of proteins, leading to protection against infection.
“This is a major breakthrough in our understanding of the immune response to Streptococcus pneumoniae; a human pathogen of global significance, responsible for over one million infant deaths annually and the major cause of illness and death in the elderly from infections of the respiratory tract.
“In order to develop improved pneumococcal vaccines for both the very young and the elderly, it is essential to understand how this bacterium interacts with the host immune system. The discoveries described in our paper represent a huge stride towards this objective.”
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A new vaccine against pneumonia is being introduced in Africa and some other countries across the world.
The vaccine could save more than half a million lives a year globally, reports the BBC.
The Gavi Alliance, a global health partnership of public and private sectors for immunisation, says 19 countries will get the jab at first.
Gavi said it needs an extra 500m pounds (800m dollars) annually for the next five years to meet a shortfall in immunisation for existing and new vaccines.
The pneumococcal vaccine costs 2.20 pounds (3.50 dollars) in Africa compared to 38 pounds in Europe as a result of a deal between Gavi and two manufacturers: Pfizer and GSK. The roll-out in the developing world comes just a year after the same vaccine was introduced in the United States.
GSK said the discounted price is only fractionally above the cost of production. A spokesman said the vaccine takes a year to produce and is the most technically sophisticated of all its vaccines.