Progress Is Made Against Strep Germ

Scientists say they are making headway in developing a vaccine against a common strep germ, the cause of millions of sore throats as well as a deadly but uncommon flesh-eating disease. A test of an experimental vaccine in just 28 people prompted an immune response with no serious side effects, but it's still not known if the shot would keep people from catching the strep germ. Still, it was the first human testing of such a vaccine in almost 30 years, although at least two other vaccines are also under development. Results of the federally funded study were reported in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association (news - web sites).