A Vaccine Against Group B Streptococcus: Recent Advances

Group B streptococcus (GBS) causes a high burden of neonatal and infant disease globally. Implementing a vaccine for pregnant women is a promising strategy to prevent neonatal and infant GBS disease and has been identified as a priority by the World Health Organisation (WHO). GBS serotype-specific polysaccharide – protein conjugate vaccines are at advanced stages of development, but a large number of participants would be required to undertake Phase III clinical efficacy trials. Efforts are therefore currently focused on establishing serocorrelates of protection in natural immunity studies as an alternative pathway for licensure of a GBS vaccine, followed by Phase IV studies to evaluate safety and effectiveness. Protein vaccines are in earlier stages of development but are highly promising as they might confer protection irrespective of serotype. Further epidemiological, immunological and health economic studies are required to enable the vaccine to reach its target population as soon as possible

Developing a serocorrelate of protection against invasive group B streptococcus disease in pregnant women: a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Group B streptococcus is the leading cause of infection in infants. Currently, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis is the major strategy to prevent invasive group B streptococcus disease. However, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis does not prevent maternal sepsis, premature births, stillbirths or late-onset disease. Maternal vaccination may offer an alternative strategy. Multivalent polysaccharide protein conjugate vaccine development is under way and a serocorrelate of protection is needed to expedite vaccine licensure. OBJECTIVES: The ultimate aim of this work is to determine the correlate of protection against the major group B streptococcus disease-causing serotypes in infants in the UK. The aim of this feasibility study is to test key operational aspects of the study design. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of pregnant women and their infants in a 6-month period (1 July to 31 December 2018). SETTING: Five secondary and tertiary hospitals from London and South England. National iGBS disease surveillance was conducted in all trusts in England and Wales. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women aged ≥ 18 years who were delivering at one of the selected hospitals and who provided consent during the study period. There were no exclusion criteria. INTERVENTIONS: No interventions were performed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) To test the feasibility of collecting serum at delivery from a large cohort of pregnant women. (2) To test the key operational aspects for a proposed large serocorrelates study. (3) To test the feasibility of collecting samples from those with invasive group B streptococcus. RESULTS: A total of 1823 women were recruited during the study period. Overall, 85% of serum samples were collected at three sites collecting only cord blood. At the two sites collecting maternal, cord and infant blood samples, the collection rate was 60%. A total of 614 women were screened for group B streptococcus with a colonisation rate of 22% (serotype distribution: 30% III, 25% Ia, 16% II, 14% Ib, 14% V and 1% IV). A blood sample was collected from 34 infants who were born to colonised women. Maternal and infant blood and the bacterial isolates for 15 newborns who developed invasive group B streptococcal disease during the study period were collected (serotype distribution: 29% III, 29% II, 21% Ia, 7% Ib, 7% IV and 7% V). LIMITATIONS: Recruitment and sample collection were dependent on the presence of research midwives rather than the whole clinical team. In addition, individualised consent limited the number of women who could be approached each day, and site set-up for the national surveillance study and the limited time period of this feasibility study limited recruitment of all eligible participants. CONCLUSIONS: We have verified the feasibility of collecting and processing rectovaginal swabs and blood samples in pregnant women, as well as samples from those with invasive group B streptococcal disease. We have made recommendations for the recruitment of cases within the proposed GBS3 study and for controls both within GBS3 and as an extension of this feasibility study. FUTURE WORK: A large case-control study comparing specific immunoglobulin G levels in mothers whose infants develop invasive group B streptococcal disease with those in colonised mothers whose infants do not develop invasive group B streptococcal disease is recommended. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN49326091; IRAS project identification number 246149/REC reference number 18/WM/0147. FUNDING: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 23, No. 67. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information

Reliability of dried blood spot (DBS) cards in antibody measurement: A systematic review

Background Increasingly, vaccine efficacy studies are being recommended in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC), yet often facilities are unavailable to take and store infant blood samples correctly. Dried blood spots (DBS), are useful for collecting blood from infants for diagnostic purposes, especially in low-income settings, as the amount of blood required is miniscule and no refrigeration is required. Little is known about their utility for antibody studies in children. This systematic review aims to investigate the correlation of antibody concentrations against infectious diseases in DBS in comparison to serum or plasma samples that might inform their use in vaccine clinical trials. Methods and findings We searched MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane library for relevant studies between January 1990 to October 2020 with no language restriction, using PRISMA guidelines, investigating the correlation between antibody concentrations in DBS and serum or plasma samples, and the effect of storage temperature on DBS diagnostic performance. We included 40 studies in this systematic review. The antibody concentration in DBS and serum/plasma samples reported a good pooled correlation, (r2 = 0.86 (ranged 0.43 to 1.00)). Ten studies described a decline of antibody after 28 days at room temperature compared to optimal storage at -20°C, where antibodies were stable for up to 200 days. There were only five studies of anti-bacterial antibodies. Conclusions There is a good correlation between antibody concentrations in DBS and serum/plasma samples, supporting the wider use of DBS in vaccine and sero-epidemiological studies, but there is limited data on anti-bacterial antibodies. The correct storage of DBS is critical and may be a consideration for longer term storage

Antibody kinetics between birth and three months of life in healthy infants with natural exposure to Group B streptococcus: A UK cohort study

Introduction Capsular polysaccharide (CPS) serotype-specific Immunoglobulin G (IgG) in cord blood has been proposed as a correlate of protection against invasive Group B Streptococcus (iGBS) disease. Although protective levels are required in infants throughout the window of vulnerability up to 3 months of age, little is known regarding the kinetics of GBS-specific IgG over this period. Methods We enrolled 33 healthy infants born to mothers colonized with GBS. We collected cord blood and infant blood samples either at one (21–35 days), two (49–63 days), or three months of age (77–91 days). We measured GBS serotype-specific CPS IgG concentrations and calculated the decay rate using a mixed-effects model. We further explored whether the antibody kinetics were affected by common maternal and infant factors and estimated the correlation between IgG concentration at birth and one, two, and three months of age. Results The half-life estimate of IgG concentration for homologous and non-homologous GBS serotypes in paired samples with detectable IgG levels at both time points was 27.4 (95 % CI: 23.5–32.9) days. The decay rate did not vary by maternal age (p = 0.7), ethnicity (p = 0.1), gravida (p = 0.1), gestation (p = 0.7), and infant sex (p = 0.1). Predicted IgG titres above the assay lower limit of quantification on day 30 strongly correlated with titres at birth (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.71 [95 % CI: 0.60–0.80]). Conclusion Our results provide a basis for future investigations into the use of antibody kinetics in defining a serocorrelate of protection against late-onset iGBS disease

Using Dried Blood Spots for a Sero-Surveillance Study of Maternally Derived Antibody against Group B Streptococcus.

Vaccination during pregnancy could protect women and their infants from invasive Group B Streptococcus (GBS) disease. To understand if neonatal dried blood spots (DBS) can be used to determine the amount of maternally derived antibody that protects infants against invasive GBS disease, a retrospective case-control study was conducted in England between 1 April 2014 and 30 April 2015. The DBS of cases with invasive GBS disease (n = 61) were matched with healthy controls (n = 125). The haematocrit, DBS storage temperature, freeze-thaw cycle, and paired serum/DBS studies were set up to optimise the antibody assessment. The samples were analysed using a multiplex immunoassay, and the results were assessed using parametric and nonparametric tests. Antibody concentrations were stable at haematocrits of up to 50% but declined at 75%. DBS storage at room temperature was stable for three months compared with storage from collection at -20 °C and rapidly degraded thereafter. Total IgG levels measured in DBS and paired serum showed a good correlation (r2 = 0.99). However, due to suboptimal storage conditions, no difference was found in the GBS IgG levels between DBS samples from cases and controls. We have demonstrated a proof of concept that assays utilising DBS for assessing GBS serotype-specific antibodies in infants is viable. This method could be used to facilitate future large sero-correlate studies, but DBS samples must be stored at -20 °C for long term preservation of antibody

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