Detecting multiple strains of deadly bacteria to guide vaccine strategies

In summary

Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus, is one of the leading causes of death in children under five globally, responsible for pneumonia, septicaemia and meningitis.

While vaccines have helped reduce disease burden, understanding which bacterial strains are circulating in the population is vital to developing effective, targeted vaccines.

Dr Jason Hinds and his team at the Institute for Infection and Immunity have developed a powerful diagnostic tool that can detect multiple pneumococcal strains from a single clinical sample, reshaping global vaccine strategy efforts.

What did we explore and how?

Working in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Imperial College, Dr Hinds’ team built upon genetic data from 90 known pneumococcal serotypes to develop a genomics-based diagnostic tool.

Funded by the Wellcome Trust through the Bacterial Microarray Group at City St George’s (BµG@S), the tool can detect multiple strains of pneumococcus in individuals using nasopharyngeal swabs.

The tool was evaluated in a study with collaborators in Thailand and showed significant improvements over existing World Health Organization (WHO) recommended methods.

Further independent evaluations, including one funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, confirmed its superiority in both sensitivity and specificity for detecting multiple serotypes in clinical samples.

The results of our early studies showed that we had developed an effective method for detecting the presence of multiple pneumococcal serotypes within an individual.
The next steps were to ensure the technology could be accessed more widely to assess pneumococcal vaccine impact in different populations worldwide.

Benefits and influence of this research

Following the development of the diagnostic tool, Dr Hinds and his team worked to ensure global uptake.

Thanks to funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the method has now been rolled out worldwide and cited in recommendations by the WHO Pneumococcal Carriage Group.

Tens of thousands of samples have since been tested across more than 25 countries.

To further expand access and impact, Dr Hinds co-founded BUGS Bioscience Ltd. in 2014—a not-for-profit company supporting the commercialisation and continued development of the technology.

Since its launch, the company has secured over £2.5 million in funding and contracts, helping to support global research, tool deployment, and the creation of new software and services.

Regional hubs have been established to enable global access to the technology.
Researchers from as far afield as South Africa and Australia travelled to the UK for laboratory training and we also visited their sites to coordinate equipment setup and provide onsite training.

If we can identify the different strains of infectious diseases in a population, we can design vaccines to effectively target these strains and prevent further spread of disease.
Our work has shown that genomics-based diagnostic tools are critical in guiding future vaccine strategies to improve global health.

It has been rewarding for the team at City St Georges to see the method that we have developed used side-by-side with ongoing vaccine roll-out and new vaccine programmes to conquer infectious diseases, particularly in children and communities that need it most.