Numerous disease-causing bacteria like Streptococcus pneumoniae, happen to be encased in a sugar layer that is known as the capsular polysaccharide (CPS). This layer is often essential when it comes to infections.
In a discovery that can indeed be termed as ground-breaking by the scientists from the Yong Ling Lin School of Medicine of the National University of Singapore, the traits of the CPS that aid the bacteria so as to colonise the human respiratory track were pinpointed.
The study also showed that structures of the CPS capsule as well as its types of linkages and combinations, greatly matter in letting the bacteria attach better and survive on the lining of the upper and lower human respiratory tracts as well.
This inference can go on to shed more light on the CPS type range that will be a part of future vaccines since the current vaccines against S. pneumoniae do not cover the numerous types of CPS that are produced by the bacteria.
S. pneumoniae happens to be a major driver when it comes to septicaemia, pneumonia, as well as meningitis. To thwart the deadly infections, the pneumococcal vaccines are administered so as to stimulate the production of antibodies against the CPS.
That said, the bacteria can go on to manipulate their structure so as to evade the antibodies. This biochemical warfare results in more than a hundred kinds of CPSs that are produced by S. pneumoniae, which elevates the challenge when it comes to producing effective vaccines.
