Raquel Sá-Leão - Synopsis

Streptococcus pneumoniae (or the pneumococcus) is a main cause of community-acquired bacterial infections. Although pneumococcal disease can occur at any age, the incidence of pneumococcal disease is higher at the extremes of age.

This bacterium is often carried by children which have long been considered the main transmission hosts in the community.

Recent research, however, has challenged this notion with the observation that carriage among adults is not as infrequent as thought before and can last for several months.

These results suggest that, depending on the community structure, the magnitude of herd effects potentially attainable through children vaccination may vary.

These findings, which are important when designing strategies to prevent pneumococcal disease in adults, will be discussed.