Strep Vaccine Could Save Lives, Lower Health Care Costs
Does the world need a vaccine for strep throat? In a rare alignment, the pharmaceutical industry and global health advocates like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation both see such a shot as a low priority. And for the many American families for whom strep is just a routine, if annoying, feature of winter, that perspective may seem correct. But two researchers on opposite sides of the globe disagree—and in light of a recent spike in deaths, rising antibiotic resistance and a litany of other issues caused by this seemingly manageable infection, they may just be right.
The group A streptococcus bacterium, the microbe responsible for strep, causes 616 million cases of sore throat each year worldwide. An untreated infection can lead to scarlet fever, flesh-eating infections and toxic shock syndrome. Streptococcus can also trigger rheumatic fever, a leading cause of heart disease around the world.
The financial cost is high too. One, published in , placed the total dollars spent on sore throats due to strep infections between $224 million and $539 million per year in the United States.
