[Seminar] Experimental Human Pneumococcal Carriage: What have we learnt about human immunity to S. pneumoniae?

Seminar

Title: Experimental Human Pneumococcal Carriage: What have we learnt about human immunity to S. pneumoniae?

Speaker: Carla Solórzano

Affiliation: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Host: Raquel Sá Leão

Abstract:

Despite the existence of licenced vaccines, Streptococcus pneumoniae “pneumococcus” remains the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia, accounting for half of a million deaths of children under five years old worldwide. This highlights the urgent need to develop novel and improved vaccines. At the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (UK), we have developed an Experimental Human Model with Pneumococcus where volunteers are intentionally exposed to this bacterium, such that the recent colonization status, inoculation dose, density and duration of a colonization episode are known. We use this model to shed light on the human mechanisms that confer protection against this bacterium. In this seminar I will tell you a story about human immunity that takes place in 3 different compartments of the body: the nose, the lungs and the blood.