Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/Z2X7Kvrpd9U   Zinc boosts the body’s immune response to Streptococcus pneumoniae, the bacterium that causes  most community-acquired pneumonia.  A just-published Australian study used a mouse model to find out just how zinc works its magic.   Finding that zinc-deficient animals fell victim to Pneumococcal pneumonia 3 times faster than normal mice, the researchers were able to show that serum zinc stresses the bacteria permitting the body’s immune cells to kill them effectively.   Nearly 2 billion people around the world suffer from a zinc deficiency.  Although we now have very effective vaccines against the pneumococcus, Prevnar 13 and 23, zinc also plays a role in our immunity to other bacteria.  You can boost your own zinc by eating beans, mushrooms, dark chocolate, nuts, oysters, beef, lamb, shrimp and scallops.   Bart A. Eijkelkamp, Jacqueline R. Morey, Stephanie L. Neville, etal. Dietary zinc and the control of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection. PLOS Pathogens, 2019; 15 (8): e