Pneumococcal Infections

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram-positive, catalase-negative cocci that has remained an extremely important human bacterial pathogen since its initial recognition in the late 1800s. The term pneumococcus gained widespread use by the late 1880s, when it was recognized as the most common cause of bacterial lobar pneumonia.
Worldwide, S pneumoniae remains the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), bacterial meningitis, bacteremia, and otitis media. S pneumoniae infection is also an important cause of sinusitis, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, peritonitis, and endocarditis and an infrequent cause of other less-common diseases.
An image depicting pneumococcal pneumonia can be seen below.
Lobar consolidation with pneumococcal pneumonia. Posteroanterior film. Courtesy of R. Duperval, MD. Pneumococcal vaccination, particularly routine childhood pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (introduced in the United States in 2000), has led to decreased rates of invasive pneumococcal infections (>90%) caused by pneumococcal serotypes covered by the vaccine, as well as overall decreased rates of invasive disease (45% overall; 77% in children < 5 y). In addition, herd immunity has led to decreased rates of disease in older children and adults.^{[1, 2, 3]}
Many subsequent studies have shown increased rates of invasive and noninvasive disease caused by serotypes not covered by the vaccine, including serotypes 15, 19A, and 33F. Serotype 19A has received the most attention, not only because of increased disease rates associated with this serotype but also because of its increased association with drug resistance. Increased rates of invasive disease with such serotypes have caused the overall rates of invasive disease to remain somewhat steady since 2002, although still greatly reduced from rates prior to introduction of the conjugate vaccine.^{[1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 3]}
Data from 2006-2007 revealed that only 2% of invasive pneumococcal disease in children younger than 5 years in the United States was caused by serotypes contained in pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 7 (PCV7), while an additional 6 serotypes accounted for almost two thirds of invasive disease in this age group.^[11] Development of a vaccine containing additional serotypes continued, and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 13 (PCV13) was approved by the FDA February 24, 2010.^[12]
Despite an overall decreased incidence of otitis media caused by serotypes not covered by vaccination since the introduction of the conjugate pneumococcal vaccine, an increase in rates of disease caused by serotypes not covered by the vaccine has occurred, as well as an increase in rates of diseases caused by vaccine-covered serotypes in incompletely immunized children. The incidence of otitis media caused by serotype 19F has remained steady. Overall health care utilization for otitis media has decreased, as has the incidence of recurrent otitis media in some populations and studies.^{[2, 13, 14, 15]}

Adherence and invasion

S pneumoniae is an example of a typical extracellular bacterial pathogen. Pathogenicity requires adherence to host cells, along with the ability to replicate and to escape clearance and/or phagocytosis. The organism must then gain access to areas where it can manifest infection, either via direct extension or lymphatic or hematogenous spread.
The rates of pneumococcal colonization in healthy children and adults provide information about the success of adherence and replication of the pneumococcus. After colonization, organisms may gain access to areas of the upper and/or lower respiratory tracts (sinuses, bronchi, eustachian tubes) by direct extension. Under normal conditions in a healthy host, anatomic and ciliary clearance mechanisms prevent clinical infection. However, clearance may be inhibited by chronic (smoking, allergies, bronchitis) or acute (viral infection, allergies) factors, which can lead to infection. Alternatively, pneumococci may reach normally sterile areas, such as the blood, peritoneum, cerebrospinal fluid, or joint fluid, by hematogenous spread after mucosal invasion. In the absence of previously acquired serotype-specific antibodies (see below), clinically apparent infection is likely to occur.

Capsule

Other than some isolates associated with conjunctivitis outbreaks, essentially all clinical isolates of S pneumoniae are encapsulated. Repeating oligosaccharides that make up the capsule of an individual bacterial isolate are transported to the cell surface, where they bind tightly with the cell-wall polysaccharides. Based on antigenic differences within these capsular polysaccharides, 91 serotypes of S pneumoniae have been identified.
The virulence of each organism is determined in part by the makeup and amount of capsule present. In a pneumococcus-naive host (or in the absence of antibody to pneumococcal capsule) host-cell phagocytosis is severely limited because of the inhibition of phagocytosis and the inhibition of the activation of the classic complement pathway. In addition, in vitro and in vivo studies of clinical isolates have shown that pneumococci have the ability to obtain DNA from other pneumococci (or other bacteria) via transformation, allowing them to switch to serotypically distinct capsular types.
There are 2 recognized numbering systems based on pneumococcal serotypes. In the American system, the serotypes were numbered in order of discovery, with lower numbers corresponding to serotypes that more frequently cause clinical disease, meaning that they were identified earlier. The Danish numbering system is based on grouping of serotypes with similar antigenicity and is more widely accepted and used worldwide. Today, serotyping provides important epidemiological information, especially with the increasingly widespread use of vaccination, but rarely provides timely clinical information.
The Quellung reaction is demonstrated by combining sera of previously immunized animals with capsular antigen. Agglutination causes capsule refractility and the ability to observe the capsule microscopically.

Toxins and other virulence factors

Pneumococcal isolates produce few toxins; however, all serotypes produce pneumolysin, which is an important virulence factor that acts as a cytotoxin and activates the complement system. In addition, pneumolysin causes a release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1.
Other potential virulence factors include cell surface proteins such as surface protein A and surface adhesin A and enzymes such as autolysin, neuraminidase, and hyaluronidase. The contributions of these substances to pneumococcal virulence are being studied extensively, and some are being investigated as potential vaccine constituents.^[16]

Complement activation

Much of the clinical severity of pneumococcal disease is due to the activation of the complement pathways and cytokine release, which induce a significant inflammatory response. S pneumoniae cell wall components, along with the pneumococcal capsule, activate the alternative complement pathway; antibodies to the cell wall polysaccharides activate the classic complement pathway. Cell wall proteins, autolysin, and DNA released from bacterial breakdown all contribute to the production of cytokines, inducing further inflammation.