REVIEW

Group B streptococcal conjugate vaccines

C J Baker, M S Edwards

Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr M S Edwards, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Room 302A, Houston, Texas 77030, USA;
morvene{at}bcm.tmc.edu

Linkage of bacterial capsular polysaccharides to proteins to create conjugate vaccines has had a dramatic impact on the health of children. Although unconjugated polysaccharides are poorly immunogenic in infants and some older children and adults, their covalent coupling with proteins stimulates T cell dependent antigenic recognition that profoundly enhances immunogenicity. In the decade since the introduction and widespread use of Haemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide conjugate vaccines in the United States, invasive H influenzae infections have become a rarity in childhood.¹ Similarly, the conjugation of polysaccharides of Streptococcus pneumoniae to a derivative of diphtheria toxoid and the addition of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to infant immunisation schedules carries with it promise for a similar decline in the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease in paediatric patients.²

Keywords: vaccine; streptococcus

Abbreviations: CPS, capsular polysaccharide; GBS, group B streptococcus; GMC, geometric mean concentration; IAP, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis; TT, tetanus toxoid

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Nobbs, A. H., Lamont, R. J., Jenkinson, H. F. (2009). Streptococcus Adherence and Colonization. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 73: 407-450 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Springman, A. C., Lacher, D. W., Wu, G., Milton, N., Whittam, T. S., Davies, H. D., Manning, S. D. (2009). Selection, Recombination, and Virulence Gene Diversity among Group B Streptococcal Genotypes. J. Bacteriol. 191: 5419-5427 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Van Dyke, M. K., Phares, C. R., Lynfield, R., Thomas, A. R., Arnold, K. E., Craig, A. S., Mohle-Boetani, J., Gershman, K., Schaffner, W., Petit, S., Zansky, S. M., Morin, C. A., Spina, N. L., Wymore, K., Harrison, L. H., Shutt, K. A., Bareta, J., Bulens, S. N., Zell, E. R., Schuchat, A., Schrag, S. J. (2009). Evaluation of Universal Antenatal Screening for Group B Streptococcus. NEJM 360: 2626-2636 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Yang, H.-H., Mascuch, S. J., Madoff, L. C., Paoletti, L. C. (2008). Recombinant Group B Streptococcus Alpha-Like Protein 3 Is an Effective Immunogen and Carrier Protein. CVI 15: 1035-1041 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Yang, H.-H., Madoff, L. C., Guttormsen, H.-K., Liu, Y.-D., Paoletti, L. C. (2007). Recombinant Group B Streptococcus Beta C Protein and a Variant with the Deletion of Its Immunoglobulin A-Binding Site Are Protective Mouse Maternal Vaccines and Effective Carriers in Conjugate Vaccines. Infect. Immun. 75: 3455-3461 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ramaswamy, S. V., Ferrieri, P., Flores, A. E., Paoletti, L. C. (2006). Molecular characterization of nontypeable group B streptococcus.. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 2398-2403 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Manning, S. D., Lacher, D. W., Davies, H. D., Foxman, B., Whittam, T. S. (2005). DNA Polymorphism and Molecular Subtyping of the Capsular Gene Cluster of Group B Streptococcus. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 6113-6116 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Seepersaud, R., Hanniffy, S. B., Mayne, P., Sizer, P., Le Page, R., Wells, J. M. (2005). Characterization of a Novel Leucine-Rich Repeat Protein Antigen from Group B Streptococci That Elicits Protective Immunity. Infect. Immun. 73: 1671-1683 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lindahl, G., Stalhammar-Carlemalm, M., Areschoug, T. (2005). Surface Proteins of Streptococcus agalactiae and Related Proteins in Other Bacterial Pathogens. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 18: 102-127 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Finn, A. (2004). Bacterial polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines. Br Med Bull 70: 1-14 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lewis, A. L., Nizet, V., Varki, A. (2004). Discovery and characterization of sialic acid O-acetylation in group B Streptococcus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 11123-11128 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kaufman, D., Fairchild, K. D. (2004). Clinical Microbiology of Bacterial and Fungal Sepsis in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 17: 638-680 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Creti, R., Fabretti, F., Orefici, G., von Hunolstein, C. (2004). Multiplex PCR Assay for Direct Identification of Group B Streptococcal Alpha-Protein-Like Protein Genes. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 1326-1329 [Abstract] [Full Text]