Group A streptococcus (GAS) is a bacteria that cause a number of different infections that range from mild illnesses to deadly diseases. It is estimated 500,000 deaths occur worldwide each year from GAS. To address these high rates of disease, the investigators want to test a new potential vaccine for safety and immune response in healthy participants.~The investigators will verify the immediate safety of the J8-K4S2 and p*17-K4S2 vaccines using a test dose in 10 volunteers. With respect to J8-K4S2 vaccine, safety of one of the peptide components (J8) has previously been established. Therefore, The investigators will begin with a test dose of J8-K4S2. The first IM injection of J8-K4S2 will be administered to the first participant. The investigators will wait two days, assess safety, then administer J8-K4S2 to a second participant. The investigators will wait two days, assess safety, then administer J8-K4S2 to a third participant. This process will continue until 5 participants have received a test dose of J8- K4S2. If there are no safety concerns with the first 5 participants, the investigators will have shown the preliminary safety of the K4S2 component. If the J8-K4S2 vaccine is well-tolerated, second and third doses of J8-K4S2 will be administered at 3 and 6 weeks, testing the safety of repeated dosing.~The investigators will next administer p*17-K4S2 to a sixth participant, wait two days, assess safety, and administer p*17-K4S2 to a seventh participant. The investigators will wait two days, assess safety, then administer p*17-K4S2 to an eighth participant. This process will continue until 5 participants have received a test dose of p*17-K4S2. If there are no safety concerns, the investigators will have shown the preliminary safety of the p*17 component. If the p*17-K4S2 peptide vaccine is well-tolerated, second and third doses of p*17-K4S2 will be administered at 3 and 6 weeks, testing the safety of repeated dosing.~Following this stage 1 challenge, if no safety concerns arise, the study will proceed to stage 2, with randomized allocation to each arm for 20 more participants who will receive J8-K4S2 vaccine (n=5), p*17-K4S2 vaccine (n=5), and 10 who receive comparator (rabies) vaccine.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety and antibody (germ fighters) response of experimental (investigational) vaccine candidates against the germ group A streptococcus when injected into the arm of healthy adults.