QIMR researchers have received a 5 year grant from the National Institutes of Health in the USA to develop a vaccine against Group A streptococcus. This extremely prestigious grant makes QIMR one of the most successful recipients of NIH funding in Australia.
Group A streptococcus (GAS) is a serious human pathogen affecting people of all ages and all socio-economic levels. Infection with GAS can result in a variety of diseases including common streptococcal pharyngitis (throat infection), particularly common in children, and the far more serious pneumonia and toxic shock-like syndrome, primarily affecting older individuals. Repeated infections with GAS can result in rheumatic fever (RF), rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and acute-glomerulonephritis (serious kidney illness). RHD which is autoimmune in nature is of most concern as it can lead to heart failure and a significantly shortened lifespan. The disease is confined largely to developing countries where over-crowding and poor access to health care are contributing factors.
Australia's Aboriginal population experiences the highest rate of the disease in the world, with the incidence of RF being as high as 651 per 100,000 per year, and the prevalence of RHD being as high as 3000 per 1,000,000. The average age of onset of RF in Aboriginal children is 11 years and the mean life expectancy of Aborigines with RHD is 33 years.