Strategies under development to decrease Streptococcus pneumoniae related infections

Jansma, J (2016) Strategies under development to decrease Streptococcus pneumoniae related infections. Bachelor's Thesis, Biology.

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Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a bacterium that resides as a commensal in the human nasopharynx. Nonetheless, S. pneumoniae can cause both invasive and noninvasive disease, which result in almost half a million deaths among children world-wide. There are currently licensed vaccines against pneumococcal disease and these are effective against preventing invasive pneumococcal disease. However, these vaccines are starting to work less effectively due to the large amount of genetic variation in the pneumococcus, specifically in the capsule locus. This genetic variability is in large part due to the natural competence of the pneumococcus and allows for rapid exchange of genetic material between strains. This has also led to less successful treatment with antibiotics because of widespread antibiotic resistance and multi-drug resistance. Therefore new methods to decrease or prevent S. pneumoniae related deaths need to be developed. This has been under development for several years and numerous studies have tested several potential vaccine candidates. While several candidates have been proposed and tested there are also short comings. In this paper the main advantages and disadvantages of several vaccine strategies and novel treatments under development are being discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Degree programme:	Biology
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	15 Feb 2018 08:26
Last Modified:	15 Feb 2018 08:26
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/14793

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