600 million infections a year, and a vaccine you might one day sniff instead of feel
What happened
On Tuesday 27 October 2026, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced the results of a new piece of laboratory research into a vaccine for Strep A. Strep A is short for Group A Streptococcus. It is a common bacterium. It causes sore throats, scarlet fever and skin infections. In rarer cases it gets into the blood or deep tissue, and that can be very serious. There is no licensed Strep A vaccine anywhere in the world. Scientists have been trying to make one for decades. The MHRA's scientists worked with the GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health. Together they tested a different way of giving a Strep A vaccine: not by injection, but through the nose or under the tongue. The vaccine uses something called GMMA. That stands for Generalised Modules for Membrane Antigens. In plain terms, GMMA are tiny bubbles that bacteria naturally shed from their outer surface. The researchers used these bubbles to carry a piece of the Strep A sugar coating, and the bubbles also act as a booster that wakes up the immune system. The work was done in mice. It was published in the journal Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics in October 2026.
Why this matters
Strep A is not a rare problem. The MHRA says there are more than 600 million Strep A infections around the world every year. Complications from those infections are linked to more than 500,000 deaths annually. Most of that harm falls on low and middle income countries, where rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease still damage young hearts. In the UK, Strep A is mainly a winter nuisance that sends children to the GP with sore throats and scarlet fever. But the winter of 2022 to 2023 reminded everyone that it can turn severe, and that supplies of the antibiotics used to treat it can come under strain. There is a second reason this research matters, and it is one pharmacists think about a lot. Every Strep A infection that gets treated is another course of antibiotics. The more antibiotics we use, the more chances bacteria get to learn how to survive them. That is antimicrobial resistance, and the World Health Organization calls it one of the biggest threats to global health. A vaccine that stops the infection happening in the first place would mean fewer antibiotic courses. Dr Fatme Mawas, Head of Conjugate Vaccines at the MHRA, made exactly that point, saying vaccines can help tackle antimicrobial resistance by preventing infections before they start. There is also the simple matter of needles. A lot of people, children especially, find injections frightening. A vaccine given as a nasal spray is easier to accept and easier to deliver in places with few trained staff.
What the evidence actually says
This is the part that deserves care, because the headline and the evidence are not the same size. What the study showed is this. When the vaccine was given through the nose or under the tongue of mice, it produced a strong immune response in the nose and throat. That is where Strep A infection usually begins. It also produced a broader immune response through the rest of the body, which the researchers say supports protection against invasive disease. That combination is unusual. Most vaccines mainly generate antibodies in the bloodstream. This one aims to put defences at the front door as well. Now the limits. This was a mouse study. It is pre-clinical research, which means it has not been tested in people at all. Mice are not small humans. Plenty of vaccines that look promising in animals do not work the same way in human trials. No dose has been set for humans. No safety data in people exists. No trial date has been announced. Dr Mawas described the work as highlighting the potential of GMMA technology to support a new generation of affordable, needle-free vaccines. Potential is the honest word. So the accurate summary is: a credible national regulator and a major vaccine institute have shown that a needle-free route is worth pursuing for Strep A. That is a real step. It is not a vaccine you will be offered this winter, or next.
Qurexa perspective
We deliver prescriptions across Lincolnshire, and antibiotics are a steady part of what we carry, especially from October onwards. Two things we see every winter are worth mentioning here. The first is that antibiotic courses get abandoned. Someone feels better on day three of a seven day course and stops. That is one of the ways resistance builds. If a course has been prescribed, finishing it matters, unless a prescriber tells you otherwise. The second is that people wait. A child with a sore throat gets seen late because getting to the pharmacy is hard, or because the car is being used, or because a carer cannot leave the house. Getting medicine into someone's hands on the day it is prescribed is a small thing that makes a real difference to how an infection goes. That is the gap our delivery and adherence support is built to close. It will not replace a vaccine. But until a Strep A vaccine exists, treating infections properly and promptly is what we have.
Practical advice
Until a vaccine arrives, the ordinary things still do the heavy lifting. Know the common signs of Strep A. A sore throat that comes on quickly, pain when swallowing, a fever, and swollen glands in the neck. Scarlet fever usually adds a fine pink rash that feels like sandpaper, often starting on the chest or tummy, and sometimes a white or red coating on the tongue. Contact your GP practice or NHS 111 if you or your child has these symptoms and they are not settling, or if a rash appears with a fever. Seek urgent help if someone is very unwell: breathing fast or struggling to breathe, unusually sleepy or hard to rouse, not passing urine, or if a rash does not fade when you press a glass against it. Call 999 or go to A and E. If antibiotics are prescribed, take them exactly as directed and finish the course. Do not save leftovers for next time, and never take someone else's. Wash hands properly and often, especially after coughing, sneezing or blowing noses. Bin used tissues. Keep children off school or nursery for 24 hours after starting antibiotics for scarlet fever. If collecting medicine is difficult, ask your pharmacy what delivery options it offers. Most will have some arrangement.
What to know
MHRA scientists, working with the GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health, have shown that a Strep A vaccine given through the nose or under the tongue produced strong immune responses in mice, both locally in the nose and throat and more widely in the body. Strep A causes more than 600 million infections a year worldwide, and complications are linked to more than 500,000 deaths. There is still no licensed vaccine. The work is pre-clinical. It has not been tested in humans, and no human trial has been announced. Treat it as an encouraging direction of travel, not a product. In the meantime, recognising symptoms early, getting treatment promptly and finishing prescribed antibiotic courses remain the practical steps that help you and help slow antibiotic resistance. Sources: GOV.UK (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency), 'New MHRA research puts needle-free Strep A vaccine within reach', 27 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-mhra-researchputs-needle-free-strep-a-vaccinewithin-reach ; PMLiVE, 'New MHRA research published on needle-free Strep A vaccine', 27 October 2026, https://pmlive.com/pharma_news/new-mhra-research-published-on-needle-free-strep-a-vaccine/ ; Medical Xpress, 'Needle-free Strep A vaccine triggers local and bodywide immune responses in mice', 27 October 2026, https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-needle-free-strep-vaccine-triggers.html This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. If you are worried about symptoms in yourself or your child, contact your GP practice or NHS 111.
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