Whether a painful strep throat turns into a fatal case of heart disease depends not just on prompt antibiotic treatment but also on the patient's genetic makeup, according to a new study led by Oxford University scientists.
The discovery could help the long fight to find a vaccine against Group A streptococcus bacteria, which cause strep throat, scarlet fever and rheumatic heart disease. (Antibiotic-resistant versions of the same pathogen that get under the skin can rot muscles away and are sometimes called flesh-eating bacteria.)
