Infection and meningitis in newborn babies

  • Project Leader:
    • Dr D M W Crook, FRCP, FRCPath, Professor B G Spratt FMedSci, FRS and Dr N Jones, MRCP(UK), MRCPath.
  • Location:
    • Nuffield Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford in conjunction with the Wellcome Trust Centre for Epidemiology of Infectious Disease (WTCEID), University of Oxford.
  • Grant awarded:
    • 13 March 2001
  • Start date:
    • 4 June 2001
  • End date:
    • 3 June 2003
  • Grant amount:
    • £70,075
  • Grant code:
    • SP3727

The bacterium group B streptococcus, or GBS is the leading cause of meningitis and infection in newborn babies in the UK. This life threatening infection occurs in 1 in 1000 babies and one of five babies affected will die. Many pregnant women without symptoms have GBS if they are tested, and are presumed to be at risk of infecting their babies. These researchers will check how common the infection is in pregnant women and develop ways of preventing the infection spreading to their babies. The aim is to find the difference between bacteria that are likely to cause an infection and those that are not, so antibiotics can be given to mothers when required. This work will also be important in guiding vaccine development.

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