Streptococcus pneumoniae is generally considered the most common bacterial cause of community acquired pneumonia, responsible for 350,000-620,000 hospitalizations each year in the US among patients above age 65 years. Globally, invasive pneumococcal disease affects an estimated 1.6 million people annually with over 1 million deaths, many of them children. To appropriately treat microbial infections, accurate diagnosis is essential;however, current methods of diagnosing pneumococcal disease are very limited resulting in gross underestimates of this disease. We have developed a novel diagnostic test using highly specialized cells found in the blood during acute infections: """"""""antibody secreting cells"""""""". The ability to accurately diagnose S. pneumoniae infection early in the illness at a time when management decisions are being considered would be a significant advance. This grant will study the antibody secreting cells as a novel test during acute pneumococcal infections.
Streptococcus pneumoniae is generally considered the most common bacterial cause of community acquired pneumonia, responsible for 350,000-620,000 hospitalizations each year in the US among patients above age 65 years. Globally, invasive pneumococcal disease affects an estimated 1.6 million people annually with over 1 million deaths, many of them children. These are likely gross underestimates of the disease burden since current diagnostic methods cannot accurately diagnose pneumococcal disease. We have developed a novel diagnostic assay based on the specialized cells (antibody secreting cells) detected in the blood ONLY during acute infections. The ability to accurately diagnose S. pneumoniae infection early in the illness at a time when management decisions are being considered would be a significant advance to result in better patient outcomes. This grant will study the characteristics of this new assay to diagnose acute pneumococcal disease.
| Halliley, Jessica L; Tipton, Christopher M; Liesveld, Jane et al. (2015) Long-Lived Plasma Cells Are Contained within the CD19(-)CD38(hi)CD138(+) Subset in Human Bone Marrow. Immunity 43:132-45 |
