Genetic diversity of pneumococcal surface protein A of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis in German children

Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is a possible candidate for the development of a pneumococcal vaccine that has the potential to offer a broad range of protection. PspA genes of pneumococcal meningitis isolates (n = 40) isolated as part of an ongoing population-based nation-wide surveillance program on invasive pneumococcal disease in children in Germany were analyzed to expand our knowledge on the distribution of PspA families of this important vaccine candidate in Germany. The serotype distribution of the strains was as follows: serotype 4 (n = 3), 6B (5), 9V (2), 14 (8), 18C (6), 19F (5), 23F (6), and 7F (5). The pspA genes of these strains could be assigned to 2 families containing 20 pneumococcal strains each. Family I could be subdivided into 2 clades with 17 strains in clade 1 and 3 strains in clade 2, and family II could be subdivided into 3 subgroups (clades 3–5) containing 16, 3, and 1 strain, respectively. Pneumococcal serotypes were distributed evenly over all clades and families. Interestingly, the distribution of the PspA gene families in Germany was seen to differ slightly that found in other countries.