Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Cobey S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3341938 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Science (New York, N.Y.) 20120301 6074
Over 90 capsular serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, a common nasopharyngeal colonizer and major cause of pneumonia, bacteremia, and meningitis, are known. It is unclear why some serotypes can persist at all: They are more easily cleared from carriage and compete poorly in vivo. Serotype-specific immune responses, which could promote diversity in principle, are weak enough to allow repeated colonizations by the same type. We show that weak serotype-specific immunity and an acquired response n ...[more]