Regarding BBB integrity during pneumococcal meningitis, it was also reported that blood-borne S. pneumoniae trafficking through the BBB does not cause significant disruption of the BBB vascular endothelium: in fact, VE-cadherin endothelial tight junctions have not been seriously compromised during the transmigration of bacteria across the BBB endothelium using a bacteremia-derived meningitis mouse model (15, 42). This evidence concerns the gene CDH5 and pneumococcal meningitis.