Featured Publications
Recombination in Streptococcus pneumoniae Lineages Increase with Carriage Duration and Size of the Polysaccharide Capsule
Chaguza C, Andam CP, Harris SR, Cornick JE, Yang M, Bricio-Moreno L, Kamng’ona A, Parkhill J, French N, Heyderman RS, Kadioglu A, Everett DB, Bentley SD, Hanage WP. Recombination in Streptococcus pneumoniae Lineages Increase with Carriage Duration and Size of the Polysaccharide Capsule. MBio 2016, 7: e01053-16. PMID: 27677790, PMCID: PMC5040112, DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01053-16.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchPneumococcal conjugate vaccineInvasive pneumococcal diseasePrevalence of carriageCarriage durationCarriage prevalenceComplex polysaccharide capsulePolysaccharide capsuleVaccine escape variantsSerotype-specific responsesDifferent pneumococcal serotypesResource-poor settingsLonger carriage durationPneumococcal diseaseConjugate vaccinePneumococcal serotypesEscape variantsUnivariate analysisHigh burdenMultivariate analysisStreptococcus pneumoniaeDrug resistanceClinical interventionsPneumococciPrevalenceVaccine
2024
Expansion of pneumococcal serotype 23F and 14 lineages with genotypic changes in capsule polysaccharide locus and virulence gene profiles post introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Blantyre, Malawi.
Cave R, Kalizang'oma A, Chaguza C, Mwalukomo T, Kamng’ona A, Brown C, Msefula J, Bonomali F, Nyirenda R, Swarthout T, Kwambana-Adams B, French N, Heyderman R. Expansion of pneumococcal serotype 23F and 14 lineages with genotypic changes in capsule polysaccharide locus and virulence gene profiles post introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Blantyre, Malawi. Microbial Genomics 2024, 10 PMID: 38896467, DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.001264.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenes associated with antibiotic resistanceAntibiotic resistancePneumococcal conjugate vaccineVirulence factor expressionDNA binding sitesVaccine serotypesB-type domainWzy proteinsPolysaccharide locusConjugate vaccineCarriage of vaccine serotypesIntroduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccinesCapsule polysaccharideEmergent lineagesGenetic changesStreptococcus pneumoniae</i>Vaccination coverageLineagesPersistent carriageGenotypic changesBinding sitesSerotypesMultidrug resistanceT mutationVirulenceClonal Expansion of a Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 3 Capsule Variant Sequence Type 700 With Enhanced Vaccine Escape Potential After 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Introduction
Kalizang'oma A, Swarthout T, Mwalukomo T, Kamng'ona A, Brown C, Msefula J, Demetriou H, Chan J, Roalfe L, Obolski U, Lourenço J, Goldblatt D, Chaguza C, French N, Heyderman R. Clonal Expansion of a Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 3 Capsule Variant Sequence Type 700 With Enhanced Vaccine Escape Potential After 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Introduction. The Journal Of Infectious Diseases 2024, jiae040. PMID: 38530917, DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiae040.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchClonal expansionSequence typingAntimicrobial resistanceSusceptibility to opsonophagocytic killingWhole-genome sequencingStreptococcus pneumoniae serotype 3Serotype 3Post-PCV13 introductionNext-generation pneumococcal vaccinesPneumococcal conjugate vaccine introductionVaccine escapeConjugate vaccine introductionPneumococcal conjugate vaccineIncreased antimicrobial resistancePolysaccharide biosynthesisPhylogenetic reconstructionSequencing projectsLocus sequencesCapsule locusSequence clustersGenomic surveillanceOpsonophagocytic killingPhenotypic characteristicsVaccine introductionConjugate vaccine
2021
Carriage Dynamics of Pneumococcal Serotypes in Naturally Colonized Infants in a Rural African Setting During the First Year of Life
Chaguza C, Senghore M, Bojang E, Lo SW, Ebruke C, Gladstone RA, Tientcheu PE, Bancroft RE, Worwui A, Foster-Nyarko E, Ceesay F, Okoi C, McGee L, Klugman KP, Breiman RF, Barer MR, Adegbola RA, Antonio M, Bentley SD, Kwambana-Adams BA. Carriage Dynamics of Pneumococcal Serotypes in Naturally Colonized Infants in a Rural African Setting During the First Year of Life. Frontiers In Pediatrics 2021, 8: 587730. PMID: 33489998, PMCID: PMC7820366, DOI: 10.3389/fped.2020.587730.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchPneumococcal serotypesPneumococcal conjugate vaccineRural African settingFirst yearColonized infantsPneumococcal acquisitionConjugate vaccineCarriage prevalenceInvasive diseaseNewborn infantsWeek 35Week 1Carriage patternsDisease preventionLatex agglutinationInfantsClinical interventionsMultiple serotypesFirst weekCarriage durationAfrican settingCarriage dynamicsBaseline dataSerotypesLimited data
2017
Population genetic structure, antibiotic resistance, capsule switching and evolution of invasive pneumococci before conjugate vaccination in Malawi
Chaguza C, Cornick JE, Andam CP, Gladstone RA, Alaerts M, Musicha P, Peno C, Bar-Zeev N, Kamng'ona AW, Kiran AM, Msefula CL, McGee L, Breiman RF, Kadioglu A, French N, Heyderman RS, Hanage WP, Bentley SD, Everett DB. Population genetic structure, antibiotic resistance, capsule switching and evolution of invasive pneumococci before conjugate vaccination in Malawi. Vaccine 2017, 35: 4594-4602. PMID: 28711389, PMCID: PMC5571440, DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.07.009.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH KeywordsAdolescentAdultBacterial CapsulesChildChild, PreschoolDrug Resistance, Multiple, BacterialEvolution, MolecularFemaleGenome, BacterialHigh-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMalawiMalePneumococcal InfectionsPneumococcal VaccinesPrevalenceRetrospective StudiesSerogroupSerotypingStreptococcus pneumoniaeVaccinationVaccines, ConjugateYoung AdultConceptsPneumococcal conjugate vaccineMDR ratePneumococcal isolatesHigher MDR rateImplementation of PCV13Prevalence of serotypesNon-vaccine serotypesInvasive pneumococcal isolatesGood infection preventionAntibiotic resistance ratesAntibiotic resistanceAbsence of vaccinesReplacement serotypesSerotype replacementInvasive pneumococciPneumococcal infectionConjugate vaccineSerotype 12FDisease burdenInfection preventionSerotype prevalenceHigh prevalenceInvasive isolatesContinued surveillanceResistance ratesThe global distribution and diversity of protein vaccine candidate antigens in the highly virulent Streptococcus pnuemoniae serotype 1
Cornick JE, Bishop Ö, Yalcin F, Kiran AM, Kumwenda B, Chaguza C, Govindpershad S, Ousmane S, Senghore M, du Plessis M, Pluschke G, Ebruke C, McGee L, Sigaùque B, Collard JM, Bentley SD, Kadioglu A, Antonio M, von Gottberg A, French N, Klugman KP, Heyderman RS, Alderson M, Everett DB, consortium F. The global distribution and diversity of protein vaccine candidate antigens in the highly virulent Streptococcus pnuemoniae serotype 1. Vaccine 2017, 35: 972-980. PMID: 28081968, PMCID: PMC5287219, DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.12.037.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsProtein vaccine candidatePneumococcal protein vaccinesProtein vaccineVaccine candidatesSerotype 1Multi-valent vaccinesSerotype 1 pneumococciPneumococcal conjugate vaccineHuman immune responseImportant pneumococcal serotypesConjugate vaccinePneumococcal diseasePneumococcal serotypesVaccine interventionsCommon causeImmune responseStudy populationAllelic variantsTarget antigenVaccineS. pneumoniae TIGR4Pneumococcal populationIntervention strategiesPCPADifferent allelic variants