Introduction
Scarlet fever is a highly contagious disease caused by a bacterial infection with so-called Group A Streptococci, which leads to feverish tonsillitis, accompanied by a characteristic rash in scarlet fever. Scarlet fever is one of the infectious diseases that often occur in childhood. Since there is a high risk of infection through the transmission of saliva drops, research has been underway for many years to develop a vaccine that provides adequate protection against infection with the group A streptococci that cause the disease.
According to current medical standards and guidelines, no vaccine has yet been approved for the prevention of scarlet fever. According to current knowledge, scarlet fever can only be prevented by adequate hand hygiene. Avoiding physical contact with infected persons is also important.
Why is there no vaccination against scarlet fever?
For many decades, the most renowned researchers around the world have been trying to develop an efficient vaccine against the scarlet fever causing bacteria. Unfortunately, all attempts so far have been unsuccessful, so that no vaccine can be made available to the pharmaceutical market. Group A Streptococci colonize the mucous membranes in the mouth and throat and release certain toxins, so-called toxins, which then lead to the outbreak of the infection.
Actually, the released toxins are a good point of attack for possible vaccines. However, the problem in vaccine development is that there are many different strains of streptococci, each of which produces different toxins. After an infection, the patient is immune if he or she comes into contact with the same toxin again and the disease does not break out.
However, if it is an infection with a new strain that produces a toxin that is not yet known to the body, it can cause a new infection. Since not all the different toxins that can cause scarlet fever are known, it is almost impossible to produce a complete vaccine. It would only be possible to produce different vaccines against individual strains, but this would be too costly and would not produce the desired effect of a comprehensive immunization.
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