Abstract

Downloaded from http://cvi.asm.org/ on May 13, 2021 by guest SPOTLIGHT crossm Articles of Significant Interest Selected from This Issue by the Editors A Novel Vaccine Antigen for Moraxella catarrhalis A vaccine that protects against Moraxella catarrhalis infection would prevent a substantial global burden of disease, including otitis media (ear infections) in children and respiratory tract infection in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Murphy et al. (e00130-17) have identified a highly conserved substrate binding protein of an ABC transporter system, AfeA, which binds essential cations and expresses epitopes on the bacterial surface. Immu- AfeA is a surface-exposed substrate binding protein of an ABC transporter nization with purified recombinant AfeA induces protective immune responses in mice. AfeA that induces protective immune re- is an excellent candidate antigen for a vaccine to prevent infections caused by M. catarrhalis. sponses in mice. Assigning Serotype-Specific Values to a New Pneumococcal Reference Serum A reference serum (89SF) containing known amounts of IgG specific for 23 different pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides has been critical for evaluating pneumococcal vac- cines since it was established in 1990. This serum was replaced in 2013 with a new interna- tionally accepted reference serum, 007sp. New extended valency pneumococcal conjugate vaccines