A new vaccine that protects against lethal pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria, including drug-resistant strains like MRSA has been developed by a team of researchers.

The researchers believed a vaccine that blocked the action of these toxins might prevent the serious illness caused by the bacteria.
Using an animal model that closely resembles human staph infection, the researchers showed that vaccination against three staph toxins provided almost complete protection against staph infections.
The vaccinated animals were protected from disease even when they were infected with very high doses of bacteria.
Furthermore, not only did the vaccine protect the animals from dying, but seven days after vaccination there were no disease-causing bacteria remaining in the animals' lungs.
"Our study suggests that vaccination against these toxins may provide protection against all strains of staph. If we can translate this finding into an effective vaccine for people it could potentially prevent millions of cases of serious and milder skin and soft tissue infections yearly," Schlievert said.
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The study is published in the Journal of Infectious Disease.
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