World first Group B Strep vaccine trial recruits 200 pregnant women in England

A world first clinical trial of a Group B Streptococcus vaccine for pregnant women has been launched, with hopes it could save tens of thousands of newborn lives worldwide.

Pregnant women are being urged to come forward for the trial, which is testing whether vaccinating mothers can protect their babies from GBS.

Group B Streptococcus, known as GBS, is the most common cause of life-threatening infection in babies. In the UK and Ireland, around one in every 1,000 infants develops a GBS infection, and it kills around 50 babies a year in the UK, almost one a week. A further 70 babies survive with long-term disabilities such as hearing or vision loss, cerebral palsy or developmental difficulties. On average, a baby dies nearly every week in the UK from strep B, and more infants who survive are left with lifelong disabilities.

The bug lives on the skin and is carried harmlessly by around one in five pregnant women. A small percentage pass it on to their baby during labour. It can cause severe illness such as sepsis or meningitis.

The vaccine under investigation is designed to trigger antibodies in the mother, which are then passed to the baby to help fight off infection. It works in a similar way to vaccines already offered in pregnancy for whooping cough and RSV.

The trial will be offered at 10 maternity units around England and will involve 200 volunteers. It is described as the world's first large-scale phase three trial looking at how safe the vaccine is for pregnant women. If the vaccine is effective and safe, doctors say it could be a game changer. The trial will take at least two years to complete. After that, regulators will decide whether the vaccine is approved.

Families have described the impact of GBS. Gethin was rushed to intensive care minutes after he was born with meningitis caused by the bacteria. His parents feared he would not survive, but doctors saved him and he now lives a healthy life. In another case, Noah's first two weeks were full of happiness, but his health quickly deteriorated. He had contracted strep B, which led to sepsis and suspected meningitis, and he died when he was three weeks old. His parents Matt and Jasmine hope the vaccine will prevent other families from experiencing a loss like theirs.

Former Olympic sprinter Iwan Thomas, whose son Teddy survived a strep B infection, has campaigned for action. Teddy spent the first 10 days of his life in intensive care after being diagnosed with GBS. He had health complications for about his first five years because his immune system was weakened, but he avoided meningitis and cerebral palsy. Iwan Thomas said the illness was avoidable and called the new trial brilliant. He also urged pregnant women to get tested for strep B. Routine testing is not offered in the UK, and private tests cost around £25. He said that if a woman is a carrier, an IV drip when her waters break can prevent passing the infection to her child. He added that 50 children a year die from GBS, which is 50 too many.