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BMC Infectious Diseases
Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

High pneumococcal density correlates with more mucosal inflammation and reduced respiratory syncytial virus disease severity in infants

Authors: Marloes Vissers, Inge M. Ahout, Corné H. van den Kieboom, Christa E. van der Gaast de Jongh, Laszlo Groh, Amelieke J. Cremers, Ronald de Groot, Marien I. de Jonge, Gerben Ferwerda

Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of lower respiratory tract infections in infants. A small percentage of the infected infants develops a severe infection, while most of these severely ill patients were previously healthy. It remains unclear why these children develop severe RSV infections. In this study, we investigate whether pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage patterns correlate with mucosal inflammation and severity of disease.

Methods

In total, 105 infants hospitalized with RSV infection were included and recovery samples were taken from 42 patients. The presence and density of Streptococcus pneumoniae was determined by RT qPCR to study its relation to viral load, inflammation (MMP-9 and IL-6) and severity of RSV disease.

Results

We show that pneumococcal presence or absence in the nasopharynx does not correlate with viral load, inflammation or severity of disease. However, when pneumococcus is present in patients, a higher nasopharyngeal pneumococcal density was correlated with a higher RSV load, higher MMP-9 levels and a less severe course of disease.

Conclusions

Our results show correlations between S. pneumoniae density and viral load, inflammation and disease severity, suggesting that pneumococcal density may be an indicator for severity in paediatric RSV disease.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
High pneumococcal density correlates with more mucosal inflammation and reduced respiratory syncytial virus disease severity in infants
Authors
Marloes Vissers
Inge M. Ahout
Corné H. van den Kieboom
Christa E. van der Gaast de Jongh
Laszlo Groh
Amelieke J. Cremers
Ronald de Groot
Marien I. de Jonge
Gerben Ferwerda
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Infectious Diseases / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2334
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-016-1454-x

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