Item Details

title

Interactions between influenza A virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae in nasal colonization and middle ear infection

author

Wren, John Thomas

abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a tremendously variable pathogen. Reflecting this, it is both a nearly ubiquitous nasopharyngeal colonizer and also a leading cause of otitis media, one of the most common diseases of childhood. Despite this, the factors underlying its transition from colonizer to otopathogen are incompletely understood and are of great interest. Epidemiologically, coinfection with influenza A virus is strongly linked to the incidence of otitis media in children and experimental models have identified numerous mechanisms by which viral infection predisposes to increased pneumococcal infection. Unclear, however, are the roles of specific pneumococcal factors in this coinfection process. This study was undertaken to examine the largely unexplored importance of two such factors of S. pneumoniae in coinfection with influenza A virus, namely phase variation and the pneumococcal neuraminidase NanA, using a novel animal model of nasal colonization and middle ear infection.

subject

coinfection

neuraminidase

otitis media

pathogenesis

phase variation

contributor

Swords, William E (committee chair)

Alexander-Miller, Martha (committee member)

Barton, Erik (committee member)

McCall, Charles (committee member)

Poehling, Katherine (committee member)

date

2015-06-23T08:35:51Z (accessioned)

2015-06-23T08:35:51Z (available)

2015 (issued)

degree

Microbiology & Immunology (discipline)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/57139 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Dissertation