Abstract
Pneumococcal diseases such as otitis media, pneumonia,
and meningitis are invariably preceded by nasopharyngeal
colonization, and herd immunity against pneumococcal disease requires protection against colonization. An early study in mice demonstrated that mucosal immunization with cholera toxin B subunit as adjuvant could elicit solid mucosal immunity. Recent data from several laboratories provides support for three different mechanisms by which adaptive immunity can provide protection against colonization. (1) IL- 17- dependent T cell immunity can recruit PMN to sites of colonization. This IL-
17- dependent immunity can be elicited by immunization
with antigen plus a mucosal adjuvant, or can be elicited
by colonization itself. (2) Immunity against colonization
can be mediated by mucosal IgA and at the mucosal surface
passive mucosal IgA antibody provides much better
protection against carriage than passive IgG antibody. (3)
Complement- fixing IgG antibody can protect against colonization and may act by protecting against colonization
of bacteria
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Advances in Oto-rhino-laryngology |
| Editors | Yasuaki Harabuchi, Tatsuya Hayashi, Akihiro Katada |
| Publisher | S. Karger AG |
| Pages | 25-27 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9783805597227 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Aug 2011 |
