"The human upper respiratory tract (URT) hosts diverse bacterial communities, with the Streptococcus genus playing a key role in health and disease. Among these, S. pneumoniae
can asymptomatically colonize the URT in biofilms, facilitating its persistence, transmission, and potential progression to diseases like pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis and severe
secondary infections after influenza A (IAV). While antibiotics and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) have successfully reduced the disease burden, challenges like antibiotic
resistance and limited serotype coverage require alternative approaches. Targeting colonization, leveraging colonization resistance by commensals such as S. mitis and S. oralis,
and using antimicrobial peptides like bacteriocins, offer promising strategies to inhibit pathogens and combat pneumococcal disease more effectively.(...)"
