A Vaccine for Strep?
Strep throat is something that most people have experienced at least once in their life. Out of the common illnesses, I think that a sore throat is one of the worst — because of the pain issue. Strep makes things even worse because of the fever — and the risk of rheumatic fever, if left untreated.
It may be possible to make a safe vaccine against the type of bacteria best known for causing “strep throat” and rheumatic fever, U.S.-based researchers reported on Thursday.
A vaccine for strep could be a huge advantage to protecting people from one of the more common companions to the flu season. However, there could be some issues with mutations — the vaccine may not always work. Protecting against a bacteria is a new thing in the world of vaccines, and this could be the new medical innovation of our generation. There are some issues when it comes to making this vaccine though.
It has been tricky to try to design a vaccine against GAS because the antigen - the piece of the bacteria most easily recognized by the body’s immune system - is also the most dangerous part. It causes inflammation and the dangerous over-reaction of the immune system that leads to heart damage.
link – Vaccine against ’strep throat’ may be coming
This is definitely something to watch. Let’s hope they do a lot of studies on this before they begin to talk about making it mandatory — like Guardasil.
Justin
Tags: Flu, Medicine, Strep, Vaccine
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