Modelling the Nasopharyngeal Carriage of Streptococcus Pyogenes in the Mouse

Faraz Alam, Shiranee Sriskandan, Siouxsie Wiles. Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.

Streptococcus pyogenes is responsible for the deaths of over 500,000 people every year, and is the cause of morbidity in a further 15 million. This pathogen causes many disease manifestations, such as streptococcal pharyngitis, scarlet fever, necrotizing fasciitis and acute rheumatic fever. These manifestations of streptococcal disease have been correlated to asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriage, however almost all murine models for this infectious agent result in the death of the animals within a few days. The creation of a refined mouse model for streptococcal nasopharyngeal carriage will therefore enable a better understanding of the factors underlying streptococcal infection, and allow for more efficient screening of potential vaccines. We have pioneered new dosing and sampling strategies and tested multiple different isolates in order to determine the most appropriate conditions development of an asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriage for S. pyogenes.