From: hound23x@gmail.com   
      
   NASOPHARYNX MICROBIOME AND VACCINATION (Little is known about the detailed   
   structure of the NP microbiome, especially in newborns and during early life   
   as the microbiome is formed.)   
      
      
   Overview   
      
      
   NASOPHARYNX MICROBIOME AND VACCINATION IN CHILDREN   
      
   Overview   
      
   The nasopharynx (NP) is home to many microorganisms that begin   
   colonizing the body soon after birth. The collection of microbes, the   
   microbiome, provides protection against pathogens, confers metabolic   
   capabilities that humans lack, as well as other functions, and   
   interacts extensively with the human host without provoking host   
   defense responses. Microbes from the NP can cause diseases, such as   
   pneumonia or meningitis, depending on which nearby tissues they   
   invade. Normally these organisms do not cause disease, possibly   
   because the complex ecosystem of the microbiome has evolved over   
   millions of years to keep organisms mutually in check.  Little is   
   known about the detailed structure of the NP microbiome, especially in   
   newborns and during early life as the microbiome is formed.   
   Understanding how the microbiome is formed, what contributions come   
   from parents, siblings, or caregivers, and how different geographical   
   environments influence the NP microbiome is an important task of   
   metagenomic research. Knowledge of these phenomena would allow   
   abnormal situations to be recognized, offering the opportunity to   
   prevent disease and ensure healthy development of the infant.   
      
   Vaccination is likely to have important consequences for the NP   
   microbiome. Current pneumococcal vaccines are directed against   
   multiple serotypes thus potentially eliminating these from the   
   microbiome.  Based on observations on this and other vaccines, new   
   organisms are expected to move into the empty niches created by   
   vaccine elimination of organisms. Thus the structure of the microbiome   
   is altered by vaccines. The unintended consequences of this alteration   
   remain to be seen.  The aim of this exploratory study is to define the   
   NP microbiome in newborns by sampling their NP monthly in the first   
   year of life and analyzing these specimens with metagenomic DNA   
   sequencing techniques. This analysis will reveal the organisms that   
   comprise the microbiome, their abundances, and how their relative   
   abundance changes over time. We will also collect a rich set of   
   clinical data about the children and correlate the (changing)   
   structure of the microbiome with the infants' health.  These studies   
   will be performed at four sites: Bangladesh, where the national   
   vaccination program does not include pneumococcal conjugate vaccine   
   (PCV); the Philippines where there is also no PCV in the national   
   program but where half the children enrolled in the study will be   
   given PCV; and two sites in Africa (The Gambia and South Africa) which   
   both have already included PCV in their national programs and all   
   children will be PCV-vaccinated. This range in geography and vaccine   
   status will allow observations on the effects on the NP microbiome and   
   the impact of this on infant health.   
      
   The results obtained from this study will lead to a better   
   understanding of the consequences (side effects) of vaccination   
   against pneumococci. Moreover, the metagenomic approach taken in this   
   study naturally lends itself as a diagnostic. Future research could   
   lead to the development of a tool to identify children at risk for   
   disease because of an altered NP microbiome. Finally, the definition   
   of the healthy NP microbiome and the at-risk microbiome that this   
   study will yield also suggest that treatment of at-risk children with   
   probiotics could reduce the possibility of disease.   
      
   Funding   
      
   Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation   
      
   PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR   
   William Niermann   
   COLLABORATORS   
   Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), Muntinlupa City, The   
   Phillipines   
   Site Principal Investigator:   
   Marilla Lucero   
   Site JCVI Advisor:   
   Hanna Nohynek, Professor of International Health, National Institute   
   of Health and Welfare, Finland   
   Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit (RMPRU), Soweto,   
   South Africa   
   Site Principal Investigator:   
   Shabir Madhi   
   Site Co-Principal Investigator:   
   Keith Klugman, Foeg Professor of Global Health, Emory University,   
   Atlanta, GA   
      
      
      
      
   http://www.jcvi.org/cms/research/projects/nasopharynx-microbiome   
   and-vaccination-in-children/overview/   
      
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