NIH PUBLISHES RESULTS OF STAPH VACCINE MOUSE STUDY
By combining four proteins of Staphylococcus aureus that individually generated the strongest immune response in mice, scientists have created a vaccine that significantly protects the animals from diverse strains of the bacterium that cause disease in humans. A report describing the University of Chicago study, funded by the NIH, has been published online the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
S. aureus, the most common agent of hospital-acquired infection, is the leading cause of bloodstream, lower respiratory tract and skin infections. In the past few decades, the bacterium has developed resistance to traditional antibiotics, thus allowing infections to spread throughout the body of the infected individual despite treatment. More recently, healthy people with no apparent risk factors have been infected by new and extremely virulent strains of S. aureus acquired from community rather than hospital sources.
Using available genome sequencing and analysis of antigenic proteins from diverse S. aureus strains, the researchers tested 19 surface proteins to see if they triggered an immune response in mice. The group then identified four individual proteins that provided the strongest immune response, combined them into a vaccine and tested the combination vaccine in mice.
The researchers then tested the combination vaccine in mice again, this time challenging groups of 10 vaccinated mice for seven days using five different S. aureus strains that infect humans. The vaccine offered significant protection against all strains examined.
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