Researchers have identified differences in the genetic code of pneumococcal bacteria which may explain why it poses such a risk to children with sickle cell disease and why current vaccines don't provide better protection against the infection, according to a study in Cell Host & Microbe.
The study was conducted by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital who identified the differences in genetic code. Researchers compared the genomes of 322 pneumococcal bacteria collected from sickle cell patients between 1994 and 2011 to DNA from 327 strains collected from individuals without sickle cell disease.
The study found that the bacteria have adapted to sickle cell patients, including measures aimed at preventing infection. As a result, disease-causing strains of the bacteria differ in children with and without sickle cell disease.
"The results help explain why current vaccines haven't been as successful at protecting children with sickle cell disease from pneumococcal infections as they have in protecting other children," said Joshua Wolf, MD, an assistant member of the St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases and one of the study's lead authors.
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