Gram-negative bacteria, such as Klebsiella, are the biggest threat and top priority for the World Health Organization. With the increasing prevalaence of antibiotic resistance, immunization is the ideal long-term approach to preventing life-threatening infections caused by Klebsiella. However, current vaccine attempts have been unsuccessful, due to the high diversity of proposed vaccine candidates. These studies combine traditional and novel vaccine development techniques to characterize the molecular epidemiology of Klebsiella infection in children, and identify potential proteins on Klebsiella that would be suitable vaccine targets. In the long term, they will use these findings to develop a vaccine that would provide protection against multiple Klebsiella strains, including those that exhibit antibiotic resistance.
Sub-studies include:
1) 'Molecular epidiology and immune responses to Klebsiella infection to improve the understanding of pathogenesis and infrom the development of Klebsiella vaccine.' This project, funded by a Healthy Starts Catalyst Grant (2020-2022), provides support to evaluate the molecular epidemiology of Klebsiella infection in children admitted to BC Children's Hospital.
2) 'Development and evaluation of a potential vaccine for prevention of Klebsiella infections in children' - The project, funded by a CICH Global Health Seed Grant, aims to inform the development of Klebsiella vaccine suitable for low- and middle-income countries and build genomics and vaccine discovery science in Uganda. The focus is on characterizing the molecular epideiology of Klebsiella infection in children in Uganda.