A REVOLUTIONARY new jab to protect against Strep A is on the horizon after scientists discover how the body fights the bug.
Until now, experts have been unable to create a jab which can prevent the killer infection that is spreading across the country.
A jab to protect against Strep A is on the horizon after scientists discover how the body fights the infectionGetty – Contributor
Strep A, the bacteria that causes common throat infections and scarlet fever, has so far killed 24 kids in the UK since September.
The infection can be treated with antibiotics – but there is currently a shortage with around six times more prescriptions handed out than normal for this time of year.
There are also fears the bug will become resistant to antibiotics, which would leave it incurable.
But researchers from Lund University in Sweden have found a special antibody, in the blood of people who recovered from the bug, which could be key to producing a vaccine.
Antibodies, our body’s natural defence system, look like a capital Y.
They work by grabbing onto invading bugs with just one arm to tell the rest of the immune system to help.
But in the case of Strep A, antibodies must latch on using both arms to beat the virus, the experts found.
This type of binding is “rare” but is “essential for effective protection”, they said in the research paper published in EMBO Molecular medicine.
Dr Wael Bahnan, the study author and an immunologist at Lund University, said: “This opens up possibilities where previous vaccine attempts have failed and means that the monoclonal antibody (man-made antibodies) we used has the potential to protect against infection.”
The researchers have now applied for a patent based on the findings in the research, and will continue to study the antibody.
Figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) revealed that there have been 94 deaths across all age groups in England since September.
Scarlet fever also continues to soar in England as 27,486 cases of the illness have now been recorded between September 12 and December 18.
This compares to a total of 3,287 at the same point in the year during the last comparably high season in 2017 to 2018.
The UKHSA said there have been 21 deaths in children under the age of 18 across England, and there have also been three deaths across Wales and Northern Ireland, bringing the grim total to 24.
Cases of the deadly bug are also circulating in high numbers in other European countries, including France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, according to the WHO.
What are the symptoms?
There are four key signs of invasive Group A Strep to watch out for, according to the NHS. These are:
A fever (meaning a high temperature above 38°C)Severe muscle achesLocalised muscle tendernessRedness at the site of a wound
The invasive version of the disease happens when the bacteria break through the body’s immune defences.
This can happen if you’re already feeling unwell or have an immune system that’s weakened.
Two of the most severe examples of invasive disease are necrotising fasciitis – a very rare but life-threatening infection also called ‘flesh-eating disease’ – and toxic shock syndrome.
What about the milder illnesses the bacteria can cause?
Tonsillitis is usually mild and causes pain in the throat.
Cellulitis is a skin infection that causes redness, swelling and pain at the site of the infection, but it can also be life-threatening if it progresses and triggers sepsis (blood poisoning) – which can occur with other Strep A infections too.
Impetigo, which tends to appear as scabbing, is very common in young children, according to the NHS, but the sores it causes can often be harder to spot on brown and black skin.