Since highly invasive strains of S. pneumoniae such as the currently employed serotype 3 (A66.1) S. pneumoniae are known to cause early bacteremia and IPD in mice within 24 h [26], lung-directed antibacterial immunity mediated by Mincle-expressing phagocytes is expected to be more effective against non-invasive as compared to invasive serotypes of S. pneumoniae rapidly escaping lung innate immune surveillance. Here, CLEC4E is linked to bacterial infectious disease with sepsis.