Avidity of antibodies against infecting pneumococcal serotypes increases with age and severity of disease

Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2014 Jun;21(6):904-7. doi: 10.1128/CVI.00147-14. Epub 2014 Apr 23.

Abstract

The incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) rises with age. Among adult IPD patients, the avidity of antipneumococcal polysaccharide antibodies against the infecting serotype increased with age and severity of disease, indicating that susceptibility to IPD in the elderly may rather be due to flaws in other aspects of opsonophagocytosis.

MeSH terms

  • Aging
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / immunology*
  • Antibody Affinity / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin G / blood*
  • Immunoglobulin G / immunology*
  • Pneumococcal Infections / immunology
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial / immunology
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Polysaccharides, Bacterial