Emergence of Antibody to Capsular Polysaccharides of Streptococcus pneumoniae During Outbreaks of Pneumonia: Association with Nasopharyngeal Colonization

Antibody to pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides (PPS) of Streptococcus pneumoniae plays a major role in protecting the host against pneumococcal infection. A variable proportion of healthy adults have antibody to PPS, often in the absence of recognized pneumococcal infection. To determine whether...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical infectious diseases 1997-03, Vol.24 (3), p.441-446
Main Authors: Musher, Daniel M., Groover, Jean E., Reichler, Mary R., Riedo, Francis X., Schwartz, Benjamin, Watson, David A., Baughn, Robert E., Breiman, Robert F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Antibodies
Antibodies, Bacterial - blood
Bacterial Capsules - immunology
Bacterial diseases
Bacterial diseases of the respiratory system
Biological and medical sciences
Clinical Articles
Disease Outbreaks
Human bacterial diseases
Humans
Infections
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Microbial colonization
Military Personnel
Nasopharynx - microbiology
Pneumococcal infections
Pneumococcal pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia, Pneumococcal - immunology
Pneumonia, Pneumococcal - microbiology
Polysaccharides
Soldiers
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Streptococcus pneumoniae - immunology
United States
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Summary:Antibody to pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides (PPS) of Streptococcus pneumoniae plays a major role in protecting the host against pneumococcal infection. A variable proportion of healthy adults have antibody to PPS, often in the absence of recognized pneumococcal infection. To determine whether exposure to pneumococci or colonization by pneumococci, or both, stimulates the emergence of antibody to PPS, we studied outbreaks of pneumonia at two military camps. Of the men who were present at a military training camp during an outbreak of pneumonia due to S. pneumoniae serotype 1 but who did not develop pneumonia, 27.8% had IgG antibody to PPS 1, whereas only 3.6% of controls had this antibody. In another outbreak caused by S. pneumoniae serotypes 7F and 8, 35.9% of asymptomatic soldiers who had nasopharyngeal colonization by one of these strains had antibody to the relevant PPS, and another 30.8% who originally did not have antibody developed it within 30 days; thus, 66.7% of these soldiers had antibody to the relevant PPS. These data show that serotype-specific antibody promptly appears following exposure to an outbreak of pneumococcal pneumonia and is probably mediated through acquisition of nasopharyngeal pneumococcal carriage.
ISSN:1058-4838
1537-6591
DOI:10.1093/clinids/24.3.441