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Science & Education -
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There are still many questions about pathogens such as group A streptococcus
Group A Streptococcus is a bacterium that can cause a range of infections, from a harmless throat infection to blood poisoning and puerperal fever. Calculations show that this bacterium ranks 6th among the most deadly micro-organisms worldwide. Yet the attention for this pathogen is not enough, says Nina van Sorge, professor of Translational Microbiology in her inaugural lecture.
One possibility to map the extent of infectious diseases is ‘bacteriological surveillance’. According to Van Sorge, not the disease itself, but the causative agents are systematically measured. “For example, this has been happening since 1959 with the causative agents of the serious disease bacterial meningitis by the Netherlands Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis. By monitoring disease burden and outbreaks, new vaccines have been developed and new bacterial variants are discovered more quickly. Vaccination schedules can be adjusted accordingly.”
Alarming messages
Van Sorge would like to see more attention for group A streptococcus. In April 2022, there were alarming reports in the newspaper about an increase in the number of serious infections with this pathogen, especially among children. “And then the burden of disease in the Netherlands is not too bad, we think. It is estimated that half a million people worldwide die every year from infections caused by group A strep.” Yet there is a great lack of interest in this bacterium, she points out: “Only three diseases are notifiable, while the bacterium can cause many more life-threatening conditions.”
Preventing Spread
In order to collect more information about the disease burden of the bacteria, Van Sorge’s group, together with colleagues from the St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein, the UMC Utrecht and the RIVM, started bacteriological surveillance of group A streptococcus in 2019. Although a vaccine is not expected for another ten years, Van Sorge hopes that enough information about group A strep will be collected that a well-informed decision can be made by then whether or not to introduce a vaccine. Much earlier, on the basis of bacteriological surveillance, it can be decided, for example, to treat housemates of infected persons with antibiotics as a precaution to prevent spread.
Many more questions
For Van Sorge, there are still many questions about pathogens such as group A streptococcus, which she hopes to answer with fundamental research in the future. Such as: why does a bacterium keep calm with one person, while the other gets sick? Van Sorge: “With my Translational Microbiology chair, we approach this question from two sides. We look from the bacterium: does the disease arise from specific properties of the bacterium? But we are also investigating whether the host has holes in its defenses against a certain bacterium, which increases the risk of a serious infection. And in the future I will also focus more on the protective role of the microbiome: with which microorganisms can we influence the immune system to increase our resistance to infections?”
Intensive collaboration with doctors, patient associations and scientists from other disciplines is necessary, according to Van Sorge, to solve complex puzzles like this: “It is not an individual sport; it is real team sport.”
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https://www.amsterdamumc.org/nl/vandaag/groep-a-streptokok-wereldwijd-op-plek-6-van-meest-dodelijke-micro-organismen.htm - Original title:
Group A Streptococcus: 6th most deadly micro-organisms worldwide - Target audience:
Healthcare Professionals, Students - Datum:
2022-06-20