{"id":83903,"date":"2025-08-12T18:21:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a"},"modified":"2025-08-12T18:35:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:35:02","slug":"mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a","title":{"rendered":"MRC Announces New Clues to Protect Children from Strep A"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>A new research led by scientists at the MRC Unit \u2013 The Gambia has uncovered vital evidence that could fast-track the development of a vaccine against Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A), a major cause of childhood illness and death worldwide.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The study, conducted in the urban town of Sukuta, followed over 400 individuals from 44 households for more than a year.<\/p>\n<p>The findings published in Nature Medicine show for the first time in humans that children with higher levels of certain antibodies are better protected from future Strep A infections, bringing hope for a vaccine that can work against many strains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur study shows that children under the age of 2 are commonly exposed to Strep A,\u201d said Fatoumata Camara, the Scientific Officer who worked on the study alongside Dr Edwin Armitage and Dr Alex Keeley, the Principal Investigators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe now have evidence that certain antibodies may be helping protect against infections, and that these antibodies would be produced by vaccines that are on the horizon,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n<p>Strep A is a silent killer, responsible for over 500,000 deaths annually, many linked to rheumatic heart disease. The burden is highest in low-income countries where early diagnosis and treatment are difficult. In The Gambia, frequent exposure to Strep A starts in infancy, and understanding how immunity develops in this context is critical to developing effective solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers observed that nearly 1 in 4 infants had already been exposed to the bacteria by their first birthday. Notably, skin infections were more common than sore throats. The team also studied mother \u2013 baby pairs from a previous vaccine trial to better understand antibody levels from birth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis research was made possible because of the trust and support of our community,\u201d said Musukoi Jammeh Field Coordinator for the study. \u201cOur field teams worked closely with families to collect samples and track symptoms. We are looking forward to sharing these results with the families who took part, as well as the Alkalo of Sukuta and the Officer in Charge of Sukuta Health Centre\u201d, Musukoi concluded.<\/p>\n<p>A step closer to a vaccine<\/p>\n<p>This work addresses major barriers to Strep A vaccine development. By focusing the research in The Gambia, the study offers critical data to inform vaccine design that is both effective and relevant to the communities who would benefit most from vaccination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a major leap forward,\u201d said Prof Ed Clarke, head of Vaccines and Immunity at MRC<\/p>\n<p>Unit The Gambia. \u201cIt should provide encouragement for vaccine manufacturers to invest in Strep A vaccines but also provides hope that soon we can protect our communities in The Gambia with a vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study was part of the SpyCATS project (S pyogenes Carriage Acquisition, Transmission, and Serology), funded by the Wellcome Trust and supported by the Gambian Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. A new research led by scientists at the MRC Unit \u2013 The Gambia has uncovered vital evidence that could fast-track the development of a vaccine against Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A), a major cause of childhood illness and death worldwide. The study, conducted in the urban town of Sukuta, followed over 400 individuals [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":83902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-83903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>MRC Announces New Clues to Protect Children from Strep A - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new research led by scientists at the MRC Unit \u2013 The Gambia has uncovered vital evidence that could fast-track the ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MRC Announces New Clues to Protect Children from Strep A\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new research led by scientists at the MRC Unit \u2013 The Gambia has uncovered vital evidence that could fast-track the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-12T18:21:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-12T18:35:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/sm_1755010954.96414.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"MRC Announces New Clues to Protect Children from Strep A\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-12T18:21:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-12T18:35:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a\"},\"wordCount\":478,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/sm_1755010954.96414.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mrc-announces-new-clues-to-protect-children-from-strep-a\",\"name\":\"MRC Announces New Clues to Protect Children from Strep A - 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