Protection for newborns

Microbiologists from the University of Bradford in England believe they may be closer to developing a vaccine that can protect newborn babies from being infected by the common and potentially fatal bacteria Group B Streptococcus.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) are the most common bacteria attacking newborn babies, affecting 1 in 1000 births, and killing up to 6 per cent of those infected. It infects around 700 babies in the UK each year and kills around 100 of those infected, according to the UK charity Group B Strep Support (GBSS).

GBS can cause pneumonia, blood infections and meningitis, and seriously ill babies can die within 24 hours of birth. Babies catch the bacteria from colonised mothers around the time of delivery. Pregnant women may be unaware that they are carrying GBS as usually there are no symptoms.

Research by Beverley Bray (25), a PhD student from the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Bradford and research leader, Dr Harrington has focused on structures on the bacterium's surface " lipoproteins " which they think may be important in several processes, including attaching GBS to the baby's own cells.

Bray said: "At the moment, we don't know why GBS is so virulent, so we need to understand how it sticks itself to a baby's cell surfaces to give us a chance of creating a vaccine.

"If, ultimately, we can develop an effective vaccine from lipoproteins, we could prevent colonised mothers from transmitting the bacteria to newborns. This will remove the need to treat large numbers of mothers and babies with antibiotics."

In their studies, the University's microbiologists have looked at a closely related species of Streptococcus that attacks horses, and created a strain that does not produce lipoproteins. They showed that this changes the bacterium's ability to cause disease, making lipoproteins a possible route for creating a vaccine.