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Nearly $3 Million Awarded to Identify Specific Genes in Bacteria that Cause Disease in Children

	Yale School of Public Health assistant professor, Melinda Pettigrew, Ph.D., and co-investigators have been awarded over $2.75 million by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to identify specific genetic differences in bacteria that influence the potential of disease in children.

Yale School of Public Health researcher, Melinda Pettigrew, Ph.D., and co-investigators, have been awarded over $2.75 million over the next four years to identify the specific genes commonly found in strains of the bacterium, Streptococcus pneumoniae, that influence disease potential in children.

Over half of young children carry S. pneumoniae in their respiratory tract. The majority of the time, these children are perfectly healthy. However, in some cases they can develop diseases such as ear infections or even severe life threatening diseases like pneumonia or meningitis. Pettigrew’s study will aim to answer why some children who are infected with S. pneumoniae become sick while others do not.

“While host factors are important, we believe that part of the answer to this question lies within the genome of the bacteria,” said Pettigrew. “This bacteria species exhibits remarkable genetic diversity. There are over 90 serotypes in circulation, and over 100 genes may be present in one strain and absent in another.”

Pettigrew, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, believes that these genetic differences hold the key to understanding why some strains make children sick and others do not. The researchers obtained thousands of bacterium samples from children with pneumonia, meningitis, otitis media, and bacteremia. The strains will then be compared with bacteria obtained from healthy children.

“If we can identify the specific genetic differences between virulent strains and healthy ‘carrier’ strains, we will be able to develop new targets for the control and prevention of disease due to these bacteria.”

The study is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Co-investigators on the grant are Kristopher Fennie, M.Sc., M.P.H., Ph.D., research scientist and lecturer in Nursing at Yale, and of the Boston Medical Center, Stephen Pelton, M.D., Chief of the Section of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and Marisol Figueira, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics.