Investigators: Professor Peter Richmond, Dr Ruth Thornton, Dr Elke Seppanen, Sharon Clark
Project description
Otitis media (OM) or middle ear infections affect 80% of children before 3 years of age. The majority of children do not have long-term complications from OM. However, 10-20% of children develop chronic or recurrent infections, this rate is even higher in Australian Aboriginals.
Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is the primary bacteria associated with OM. In children with chronic and recurrent OM NTHi forms biofilms in the middle ear. These biofilms enable the bacteria to evade traditional antimicrobial treatment and the immune. It is hypothesised that children with chronic and recurrent OM have deficiencies in their immune pathways leading to their increased susceptibility to infection.
Early targeted immune responses may prevent biofilm formation and thus the onset of chronic and recurrent OM. Research into children with chronic and recurrent OM has focussed mostly on measuring levels of antibodies against common pathogens. However, this has provided conflicting data and is only one way of investigating immune surveillance.
Therefore we aim to characterise the NTHi-specific immune responses to identify and understand possible deficiencies. This in-depth characterisation will involve performing memory B-cell ELISpot, cytokine assays, flow cytometry and RNAseq on previously bio-banked samples from two cohorts;
- Age matched Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal OP children and healthy controls
- OP children who have had a successful surgery for the insertion of ventilation tube and those that relapsed post-surgery.
A better understanding of NTHi immunity in OP children will lead to better diagnosis, treatment and prevention methods.
Project outputs
In depth characterisation of the natural NTHi immune response in children with chronic and recurrent OM to inform future vaccine design.
Funders
- Perth Childrens Hospital Foundation grant