Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2005 Feb;5(2):83-93.
doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(05)01280-6.

Epidemiological differences among pneumococcal serotypes

William P Hausdorff  1 , Daniel R Feikin, Keith P Klugman
Affiliations
Review

Epidemiological differences among pneumococcal serotypes

William P Hausdorff et al. Lancet Infect Dis. 2005 Feb.

Abstract

The bacterial species Streptococcus pneumoniae consists of 90 immunologically distinct serotypes, of which some possess distinct epidemiological properties. Certain serotypes are much more likely to be associated with nasopharyngeal colonisation than to cause invasive disease. Compared with transient or infrequent colonisers, serotypes carried at high rates by young children may rapidly elicit age-associated natural immunity to invasive disease. Other serotypes seem to be of disproportionate importance as causes of disease in very young infants, in older children, in immunocompromised individuals, or in elderly people. Some serotypes seem to be associated with particular disease syndromes, such as complicated pneumonias in children, or with higher rates of hospitalisation in children or mortality in adults, or are consistently responsible for outbreaks in certain populations. Since pneumococcal conjugate vaccines are directed at specific serotypes, national immunisation advisory committees may wish to consider these serotype-specific properties when considering which vaccine formulation to introduce into a national programme.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources