Vaccines confer active immunoprotection, which is why they constitute one of the medical instruments that have contributed the most to the prevention of infectious diseases, estimating that around 2.5 million deaths are avoided annually thanks to them. The significant decrease in the incidence of diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, invasive meningococcal disease or whooping cough, among others, or even the eradication of smallpox, is clear proof of their effectiveness. Despite this, in recent years a reemergence of certain infections that can be prevented by vaccination and that are caused by specific bacteria have been detected. Some examples of these bacteria are Neisseria meningitidis, which causes invasive meningococcal disease, or Bordetella pertussis, which produces whooping cough.

The VHIR microbiology research group is working on the study of the microbiological factors that may be conditioning the reemergence of these infections, as well as the characteristics of the patients who suffer from them and that may contribute to their acquisition and development. To this end, we work on the genomic characterization of bacterial populations such as N. meningitidis or B. pertussis through state-of-the-art technologies that allow us to monitor the evolution and adaptation of circulating clones in our environment, with the aim of early identification of the appearance of high-risk clones for public health, the rapid detection of the existence of transmission clusters between people, the emergence of strains not covered by currently used vaccines, and the identification of strains resistant to first- and second-line antimicrobial treatments, with the aim of in order to be able to design optimal measures to prevent the acquisition of these diseases, reduce their dissemination and optimize antimicrobial treatments.

Competitive projects that are currently being developed in this line of work:

Secuenciación de nueva generación para el estudio de la dinámica poblacional, adaptación e identificación de nuevos antígenos vacunales de B. pertussis y B. holmesii

PI: Juan José González López

Collaborators: Albert Moreno Mingorance

Financing entity: Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Financing: 82400

Reference: FI19/00315

Duration: 01/01/2020 - 31/12/2023

Secuenciación de nueva generación para el estudio de la dinámica poblacional, adaptación e identificación de nuevos antígenos vacunales de B. pertussis y B. holmesii. Estudio PERT-ESP-VAC

PI: Juan José González López

Collaborators: María Teresa Martín Gómez, Gema Codina Grau, Carlos Rodrigo Gonzalo de Liria, Alba Mir Cros, Thais Cornejo Sánchez, Sonia Maria Uriona Tuma

Financing entity: Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Financing: 111320

Reference: PI18/00703

Duration: 01/01/2019 - 30/06/2023

Caracterización de Neisseria meningitidis tras la introducción de la vacuna frente al serogrupo B e identificación de factores predisponentes para la enfermedad meningocócica invasiva

PI: Juan José González López

Collaborators: Manuel Hernández González, José Ángel Rodrigo Pendás, Aina Aguiló Cucurull, Alba Mir Cros, Albert Moreno Mingorance, Thais Cornejo Sánchez, Andrea Martín Nalda

Financing entity: Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Financing: 123420

Reference: PI21/00132

Duration: 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2024

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the main public health problems recognized by the main public health and sanitary agencies. Enterobacters such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, and other bacterial species such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus are among the main pathogens causing infections and deaths associated with antimicrobial resistance.

Our research group works on the study of the mechanisms of action and resistance to antimicrobials of these and other bacteria of clinical interest, as well as the study of the mobile genetic elements where their resistance determinants can be found and possible therapeutic alternatives that can be considered to treat the infections they produce. Likewise, we work on the development, application and implementation of state-of-the-art processes, analysis and technologies that allow us to identify the molecular epidemiology, distribution and population structure of multi-resistant bacteria in order to early detect the emergence of high-risk epidemiological clones that can be transferred between patients, producing infections and/or outbreaks related to healthcare.