South Africa: Bacteria in airway shapes air pollution health risk

Air pollution leads to different risk of bacterial pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis, depending on the subtype of bacteria a person has, new research suggests. The study from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, and collaborators, suggests that the subtype of the bacteria, Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) , together with air pollution exposure, impacts the rate and timing of invasive disease. With some strains linked to immediate infection after air pollution exposure, and some taking several weeks. Published on Monday, 14 September 2026 in Nature Microbiology , the researchers also found that older adults and young children are more vulnerable during periods of high air pollution, and that improving air quality could lower disease risk. They also suggest that understanding what type of bacterial strains are circulating and how environmental factors shape infection rates could inform future public health policies, protect those most at risk, and prepare hospitals for outbreaks. S. pneumoniae is found in the respiratory microbiome, the collection of microbes that live in the human nose an