# OUTER MEMBRANE PROTEINS OF HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE

> **NIH NIH R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 1991 · $278,640

## Abstract

It is estimated that 4 million children die of severe lower respiratory
tract disease per year in developing countries. Viruses probably cause the
majority of lower respiratory tract disease, however, bacteria appear to be
responsible for most of the severe mortality and morbidity. Although it has
been difficult to establish the etiologic agents responsible for lower
respiratory tract disease, the most common bacterial agents observed are
Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Several studies have
now documented that a substantial fraction of the H. influenzae isolates
are nontypable. Granoff, Weinberg and co-workers have characterized
Haemophilus isolates from the blood of patients with lower respiratory
tract disease in Pakistan. Thirty-two percent of the 105 Haemophilus
isolates they examined were nontypable. Isolates from patients with
invasive disease in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines have also been
examined by these workers. Fifteen percent of the isolates from the Papua
New Guinea collection and 37% of the isolates from the Philippine
collection were nontypable.

Thus, the available data indicate that nontypable Haemophilus is an
important cause of lower respiratory tract disease in children in the
developing world. In the developed world, NTHI are an important cause of
infections of mucosal surfaces such as otitis media, sinusitis and
bronchitis. It is not clear at present whether or not the NTHI isolates
from children in the developing world are different from the NTHI isolates
in the developed world which are responsible for 1) mucosal surface
infections in children, 2) pneumonia and other serious infections in
immunocompromised patients, or 3) exacerbations of chronic bronchitis in
adults.

The overall goals of the proposed studies are 1) to characterize the
nontypable influenzas strains which are responsible for severe lower
respiratory tract disease in children in the developing world and 2) to
develop strategies for creating new vaccines for children at risk for
contracting severe lower respiratory disease caused by these organisms.
These studies will also provide a foundation for developing vaccines for
prevention of otitis media, sinusitis, and bronchitis caused by nontypable
H. influenzae.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3127288
- **Project number:** 5R01AI017572-11
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** L6NFUM28LQM5
- **Principal Investigator:** ROBERT S. MUNSON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1991
- **Award amount:** $278,640
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1980-07-01 → 1995-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3127288

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3127288, OUTER MEMBRANE PROTEINS OF HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE (5R01AI017572-11). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3127288. Licensed CC0.

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