BACKGROUND Pneumococcal vaccination has become obligatory due to the enormous burden of pneumococcal diseases. Quite recently, pneumococcal conjugate vaccines have been developed, and have been shown to be superior to the previous polyvalent polysaccharide vaccine of the organism. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are being introduced in many West African countries and it is important to u...

BACKGROUND Serotype-specific polysaccharide based group B streptococcus (GBS) vaccines are being developed. An understanding of the serotype epidemiology associated with maternal colonization and invasive disease in infants is necessary to determine the potential coverage of serotype-specific GBS vaccines. METHODS Colonizing GBS isolates were identified by vaginal swabbing of mothers during a...

The molecular epidemiological characteristics of all Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated in a nationwide manner from patients with meningitis in The Netherlands in 1994 were investigated. Restriction fragment end labeling analysis demonstrated 52% genetic clustering among these penicillin-susceptible strains, a value substantially lower than the percentage of clustering among Dutch penici...

Neutralizing antibodies against 10 serotypes of rotavirus were measured in sera from different age groups of German cattle. Only five of 143 sera did not neutralize heterologous serotypes. Sera from 64 of 76 calves younger than 1 year neutralized bovine rotavirus NCDV (serotype 6). From these calves, sera 54, 26, 51, 24, 12, 10 and 37, in neutralized addition, the heterologous serotypes 1, 2, 3...

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacterium which is associated especially with aggressive forms of periodontitis. Contradictory results on the localization of the A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype-specific antigen have been reported. The aim of the present study was to characterize the A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype d-specific antigen. The anti...

Shigella flexneri is the major cause of shigellosis in developing countries. A new S. flexneri serotype, Xv, appeared in 2000 and replaced serotype 2a as the most prevalent serotype in China. Serotype Xv is a variant of serotype X, with phosphoethanolamine modification of its O antigen mediated by a plasmid that contained the opt gene. Serotype Xv isolates belong to sequence type 91 (ST91). In ...

BACKGROUND Klebsiella pneumoniae is the major cause of liver abscesses in several Asian countries. Differences in the type of circulating Klebsiella strains and/or the genetic make up of the host seem to be plausible explanations for this. METHODS Two recent K. pneumoniae strains isolated from patients with liver abscess, one from Missouri in the US, and a second one from Singapore, were full...

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of pneumonia, meningitis, and bacteremia, estimated to cause 2 million deaths annually. The majority of pneumococcal mortality occurs in developing countries, with serotype 1 a leading cause in these areas. To begin to better understand the larger impact that serotype 1 strains have in developing countries, we characterized virulence and genetic conte...