Microinvasion by Streptococcus pneumoniae induces epithelial innate immunity during colonisation at the human mucosal surface

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common coloniser of the human nasopharynx, but it also causes severe diseases. Here, Weight et al. use an experimental human pneumococcal carriage model to show that bacterial colonisation is associated with invasion of the epithelium and enhancement of immune responses.