Health
A common killer bug is endangering Americans: ‘Pandemic in plain sight’
Five years after the worldwide hyperfocus on COVID-19 began, some are concerned about the next pandemic — whether it could be caused by influenza, bird flu or another pathogen.
Too easily overlooked are non-influenza, non-COVID viruses and bacteria that are burgeoning and spreading unchecked — both in the U.S. and around the world. While they may not cause the next pandemic, they do cause a lot of illness and death.
One such bacteria is Streptococcus Group A, an old enemy that colonizes the throat and tonsils of close to 20% of U.S. children, according to Dr. Joshua Osowicki, team leader and senior research fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia.
CDC WARNS OF INCREASE IN INVASIVE STRAIN OF STREP THROAT IN US
This problematic bacterial strain is easily treated with penicillin drugs when it causes a clinical infection, Osowicki told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview. (See the video at the top of this article.)
But the problem, he said, is that because the bacteria may be harbored, the diagnosis isn’t always found early enough.
The Streptococcus Group A bacteria has been on the rise around the world, doctors warn. (iStock)
Scarlet fever and rheumatic fever/rheumatic heart disease can result from recurrent or untreated strep — and they are on the increase again in areas without adequate medical care, including parts of the U.S.
“Rheumatic heart disease is a chronic, non-infectious illness that occurs after untreated group-based streptococcal infections — and almost certainly after multiple untreated, group-based streptoococcus infections,” Osowicki said.
STREP THROAT INFECTIONS HAVE SPIKED ABOVE PRE-COVID HIGHS, SAYS REPORT: ‘WE’VE MISSED CASES’
His research reveals that the prevalence of a life-threatening invasive version of strep Group A — which can include deep-rooted skin infections, sepsis, meningitis and deadly pneumonia — is on the rise around the world.
The aggressive skin infections, which are associated with intravenous drug use, can lead to the need for repeated surgeries, along with antibiotics.
A life-threatening invasive version of strep Group A can include deep-rooted skin infections, sepsis, meningitis and deadly pneumonia. (iStock)
In the U.S., there have been more than double the annual incidents of invasive Group A strep in 10 states, affecting about 35 million Americans between 2013 and 2022, with 21,000 cases and about 2,000 deaths, according to Osowicki.
“In many ways, it’s a pandemic in plain sight,” he said of Group A strep, adding that close to a billion people likely experience symptomatic disease from the bacteria each year.
“It actually does its damage in severe, life-threatening cases before the patient receives antibiotics.”
The important thing with group A strep, according to the doctor, is that antibiotic resistance isn’t the primary issue.
“Group A strep is reliably killed by penicillin — and has been since 1941 when penicillin was introduced,” Osowicki noted.
Strep A colonizes the throat and tonsils of close to 20% of U.S. children, according to the researcher. (iStock)
“The point is that it actually does its damage in severe, life-threatening cases before the patient receives antibiotics. There’s this period where it is too hard to diagnose and treatment comes too late.”
In those cases, he said, the patients need ICUs, surgery and “the most intensive treatment we have to offer.”
Among patients over the age of 65 or so, a quarter of them will die with this form of the disease, according to Osowicki.
Need for a vaccine
There is not currently a vaccine for Group A strep.
While the more common form of strep throat and minor skin infections are “less scary,” Osowicki warned of the dangers of overlooking the more invasive version of the disease.
EXPOSURE TO TOXIN INCREASES COLORECTAL CANCER RISK AMONG YOUNGER ADULTS, STUDY FINDS
“We look away sometimes from the life-threatening infections that we struggle to prevent, diagnose and treat, (until) these become the front-page sepsis cases that you see in the newspaper many weeks of the year,” he said.
“They’re headline-catching cases. They’re the cases like Rory Staunton in New York, whose tragic death (in 2012 from sepsis) really triggered the state census mandates across the U.S.”
There are up to 10 different group-based strep vaccines in development, ranging from entirely pre-clinical vaccines that have never seen a person to vaccines that have been tested in phase 1 trials. (iStock)
The need for an effective vaccine is clear — both for invasive strep and the more common variety. Osowicki and others in his group are working hard on developing them.
“The current thrust of my research is all vaccine-related,” he shared. “We do what are called human challenge trials, where we deliberately infect healthy adult volunteers with group A strep, painting it on their tonsils. And we do that in a very careful way, in an inpatient environment.”
The researchers also provide early antibiotic treatments and collect throat swabs, blood and saliva to study how the human-only pathogen works and to explore ways to stop it.
“The ultimate goal is that it becomes a really high-powered platform to establish the efficacy of vaccines,” said Osowicki.
There are many vaccine candidates in various stages of development, from the protein-adjuvant kind (like Shingrix or the Novavax COVID vaccine) to the MRNA platform and various other kinds, the researcher said.
“We’re working with every vaccine company that has a group-based streptococcal vaccine candidate in development,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
There are up to 10 different group-based strep vaccines in development, ranging from entirely pre-clinical vaccines that have never seen a person to vaccines that have been tested in phase 1 trials, Osowicki noted.
The goal, the researcher said, is to “create a vaccine that the world wants, that the world accepts, that the world says is safe, and that will help our children.”
He said he is concerned about vaccine skepticism, particularly after the COVID pandemic, which can keep people from trusting the emerging science.
Still, the researcher is excited about the future of the strep A vaccine and others, though he expects it could take at least five to 10 years before a worthy candidate reaches doctors’ offices.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
The new vaccine will be geared toward adults with skin infections, as well as the many millions of children who are at risk of both mild and severe disease.
The goal, Osowicki said, is to “create a vaccine that the world wants, that the world accepts, that the world says is safe, and that will help our children.”
Visit go.fox/MCRI to donate or to learn more about MCRI’s important research.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE GETTING YOUR FLU SHOT, ACCORDING TO DOCTORS
Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
HOW LONG YOU’RE CONTAGIOUS WITH THE FLU — AND WHEN IT’S SAFE TO GO OUT
The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
RESEARCHERS LOCKED FLU PATIENTS IN A HOTEL WITH HEALTHY ADULTS — NO ONE GOT SICK
The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
FREQUENT HEARTBURN MAY BE A WARNING SIGN OF A MORE DANGEROUS CONDITION, DOCTOR SAYS
The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
BACTERIA IN YOUR MOUTH MAY TRAVEL TO THE GUT AND TRIGGER STOMACH CANCER, RESEARCH FINDS
After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.
Use escape to exit the menu.
Sign Up
Create a free account to access exclusive content, play games, solve puzzles, test your pop-culture knowledge and receive special offers.
Already have an account? Login
-
Ohio3 minutes agoOhio State reaches $100 million settlement with nearly 300 sex abuse survivors | CNN
-
Oklahoma6 minutes agoRECAP: Democrat State Superintendent Candidates Address Oklahoma Education Issues in Primary Debate
-
Oregon11 minutes agoOregon man charged with the murders of four women is now accused of killing a fifth
-
Pennsylvania18 minutes agoCrash in Warminster Township, Pennsylvania, leaves 1 person dead, police say
-
Rhode Island21 minutes agoClergy sex abuse bill passes RI Senate on unanimous vote. What’s next
-
South-Carolina26 minutes agoThe 3 Democrats vying for SC governor’s seat take jabs at each other in SCETV debate
-
South Dakota33 minutes agoTornado watch in effect as severe storms target South Dakota
-
Tennessee36 minutes agoTennessee Baseball Breakout Star Announces He Won’t Enter the Transfer Portal
