Group B Streptococcal Infection - Group B Streptococcus Vaccine Research

Group B Streptococcus Vaccine Research

Group B Streptococcus, also known as Streptococcus agalactiae colonize the vaginal and gastrointestinal tracts in healthy women, with carriage rates ranging from 15%-45%. The absence of antibody to group B streptococci in infants is a risk factor for infection. Group B streptococcal infection in elderly people (≥70 y) is strongly linked to congestive heart failure and being bedridden, with urinary tract infection, pneumonia, and soft-tissue infection as the most common manifestations of infection. Neurologic illness is associated with pneumonia in elderly people, due to aspiration of group B streptococci from the upper respiratory tract. Urinary tract infections are a common manifestation of group B streptococcal disease and are observed in both pregnant and nonpregnant adults. Vaccine development was once promising, but shifting serotypes of group B streptococci responsible for clinical disease have limited this approach. The broad use of antibiotics in pregnant women is of concern to public health officials. Many women are allergic to penicillin and penicillin-type antibiotics that are the preferred treatment, and GBS is increasingly resistant to other common antibiotics. A Phase II clinical study that indicates a vaccine to prevent Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is possible by 2019.