Abstract
Infections of the lower respiratory tract, such as pneumonia, are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Streptococcus pneumoniae might colonize the upper respiratory tract and is the main aetiological agent of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). In the last decades, several factors related to the host, the microorganism and the antibiotic therapy have been investigated to identify risk factors associated with the development of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Nevertheless, these factors themselves do not explain the risk of developing disease or its severity. Recently, some studies have focused on the importance of nasopharyngeal (NP) microbiome and its relation to respiratory health. This review presents existing evidence of the potential role of NP microbiome in the development of IPD.
Highlights
Lower respiratory infections, considering pneumonia, represent the third cause of death worldwide, with a median of 4.2 million deaths (7.1% of total deaths) per year [1]
Recent advances in molecular typing techniques have identified that the lungs are not sterile –as was classically believedbut that the respiratory tract is colonized by microbial species, which change between healthy individuals and those affected with respiratory diseases [53,54,55,56,57]
We have reviewed the most important factors known to be associated with pneumococcal disease and we have focused on the available evidence of the role of respiratory microbiome in the development of respiratory infections in children and adults
Summary
Lower respiratory infections, considering pneumonia, represent the third cause of death worldwide, with a median of 4.2 million deaths (7.1% of total deaths) per year [1]. Combination of pneumonia and Influenza ranked 8th among leading causes of mortality in developed countries. They are the main cause of death due to infection [2]. Despite its remarkable reduction since the introduction of pneumococcal conjugated vaccine (PCV), is still 10–20/100,000/year in developed countries and could be even higher in developing countries [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
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