Pneumococcal carriage and malnutrition

Malnutrition contributes significantly to the burden of infectious diseases in low- and middle- income countries. The main aim of this project is to understand the underlying mechanisms of how malnutrition predisposes to respiratory infection. The PhD student will investigate associations between various indicators of malnutrition and pneumococcal carriage in Malawian volunteers, elucidating the potential of targeted nutritional interventions such as Vitamin supplementation and probiotics to reduce the burden of pneumococcal disease in malnourished populations.