Group B Streptococcus (GBS) are the most common bacteria attacking newborn babies, affecting 1 in 1000 births, and killing up to 6 per cent of those infected. It infects around 700 babies in the UK each year and kills around 100 of those infected, according to the national charity Group B Strep Support (GBSS).
The infection can cause pneumonia, blood infections and meningitis, and seriously ill babies can die within 24 hours of birth. Babies catch the bacteria from colonised mothers around the time of delivery. Pregnant women may be unaware that they are carrying GBS as usually there are no symptoms.
Research by PhD student Beverley Bray and researcher Dr Dean Harrington have focused on lipoprotein structures on the bacterium's surface which they think may be important in several processes, including attaching GBS to the baby's cells.
"At the moment, we don't know why GBS is so virulent, so we need to understand how it sticks itself to a baby's cell surfaces to give us a chance of creating a vaccine," said Bray.
"If, ultimately, we can develop an effective vaccine from lipoproteins, we could prevent colonised mothers from transmitting the bacteria to newborns. This will remove the need to treat large numbers of mothers and babies with antibiotics," she added.
In their studies, the University's microbiologists have looked at a closely related species of Streptococcus that attacks horses, and created a strain that does not produce lipoproteins. They showed that this changes the bacterium's ability to cause disease, making lipoproteins a possible route for creating a vaccine.
At present, a swab test can detect if an expectant mother is harbouring GBS, although it is not routinely offered under the UK National Health Service.
Bray presented interim results of her research at a recent meeting of the Society of General Microbiologists at Keele University in Staffordshire. Initial findings of the research are expected to be published in 2006.