Volume 211 - Issue 7
News briefs
Med J Aust 2019; 211 (7): 292-293. || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50358
Published online: 7 October 2019
Published online: 7 October 2019
Vaccine for treating and preventing streptococcal toxic shock
A vaccine developed by researchers at the Griffith University Institute for Glycomics could be used to treat and prevent toxic shock caused by invasive streptococcal disease, which kills more than 160 000 people every year. Group A Streptococci bacteria cause common, non‐life‐threatening illnesses such as impetigo (school sores) and tonsillitis, which are easily spread by coughing, sneezing, and sharing food and drinks. In about one in 100 cases, however, the organism enters the body, causing invasive streptococcal disease; which is potentially life‐threatening; mortality can exceed 25% in even the best equipped medical facilities. When invasive streptococcal disease occurs, some bacterial strains produce more toxins than others, causing streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). The international research team, which includes scientists from Melbourne and Edmonton, Canada, used a transgenic mouse model to develop the first candidate STSS vaccine, a conserved M protein peptide (“J8”). Vaccination with J8 reduced the bacterial burden in the spleen and blood of infected animals by 3–6 orders of magnitude. Administering antibody to J8 also cleared the infection in treated transgenic mice and reduced the mitogenic and inflammatory activity of the M protein, effects enhanced by adding antibody to the streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin. The next step will be to produce monoclonal antibodies suitable for trials in humans. The research was published in Science Advances.
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/9/eaax3013
Botulinum toxin type A PBS listing extended
After an extensive campaign by the authors of an MJAPerspective and the Rehabilitation Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule listing for botulinum toxin type A will be extended to include adults with lower limb focal spasticity following a stroke. Dr Anupam Datta Gupta, a rehabilitation specialist at Adelaide's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and public health academic Dr David Wilson wrote last year: “Spasticity can be moderated safely and effectively in both upper and lower limbs with botulinum toxin and the input of a skilled multidisciplinary team … Individuals with spasticity are already disadvantaged by their condition; they should not be further disadvantaged by ignoring effective treatment options.” Prior to the extension, botulinum toxin was subsidised for stroke patients with upper limb spasticity – but not those with lower limb spasticity – and for selected patients with cerebral palsy. According to the announcement, more than 2800 patients per year are expected to benefit from this listing. The federal Minister for Health noted that, “without PBS subsidy, patients would pay more than $5400 per year for this treatment.”