SCAN: Streptococcus pneumoniae under fire: impact of vaccines and antibiotics
Raquel Sá Leão, Molecular Genetics Laboratory
| When |
04 Mar, 2009
from
12:00 pm to 01:00 pm |
|---|---|
| Where | Auditorium |
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SCAN
Title: Streptococcus pneumoniae under fire: impact of vaccines and antibiotics
Speaker: Raquel Sá Leão, Molecular Genetics Laboratory
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae (or pneumococcus) is a bacterium that colonizes asymptomatically virtually all children under the age of two. Although disease is extremely rare in the lifestyle of the pneumococcus, infections caused by this bacterium are associated with a significant burden of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In 2000, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine targeting seven of the 91 serotypes was introduced in the USA having reached in June 2001 the Portuguese market. This vaccine has proved its efficacy in preventing pneumococcal invasive disease caused by vaccine serotypes. Since the vaccine also impacts on colonization, a vast ecological experiment has begun. Data collected in colonization studies among children attending day-care centers in Oeiras for over a decade will be presented and the impact of antibiotics and vaccine use on pneumococcal ecology will be discussed.
