Pneumococcus portfolio 

Streptococcus pneumoniae (Pneumococcus) is a leading cause of invasive disease worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that pneumococcal infections cause around 1.6 million deaths annually. It is considered the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia and can lead to meningitis, bacteremia, and other severe complications¹.

As Pneumococcus is a primary target of global vaccination programs, accurate serotyping and ongoing surveillance are essential for vaccine research and public health. Rapid diagnosis remains critical to guide effective treatment.  

The WHO, in its surveillance standard Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Surveillance Standards: Pneumococcus, states serotyping as the gold standard: “Capsular typing remains essential for pneumococcal surveillance and epidemiology. Molecular methods may be used as complementary tools in certain contexts, but they do not replace serotyping as the primary approach².  This surveillance data is critical for evaluating vaccine performance and guiding immunization strategies.