Experimental group B strep vaccine shows promise

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An experimental vaccine cut the chances of a pregnant woman carrying group B strep bacteria, a leading cause of blood and brain infections in newborns, U.S. researchers said on Friday.

They said pregnant women who got the Group B Streptococcus vaccine were about one third less likely to carry the bacteria in the vagina and 43 percent less likely to carry the organism in the gut.

"It's very exciting," said Sharon Hillier of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who led the study. "We've shown development and testing of such a vaccine is possible."

Hillier presented the study at a meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in Philadelphia.

Group B Streptococcus live in the vagina and lower intestine of 15 percent to 40 percent of all healthy women in the United States. It is different from group A strep, the kind that causes "strep throat."

Because group B strep poses a threat to newborns during labor and delivery, pregnant women are routinely tested and infected women are given intravenous antibiotics during labor to protect the baby.

But this strategy is imperfect, Hillier said in a telephone interview.

Not all infections can be prevented with antibiotics, and women must get to the hospital early enough during labor to receive the antibiotics, she said.