Group A Streptococcal Diseases and Their Global Burden

Anna P. Ralph and Jonathan R Carapetis

Molecular Markers for the Study of Streptococcal Epidemiology

David J McMillan, Martina L Sanderson-Smith, Pierre Smeesters and Kadaba S Sriprakash

Epidemiology and Pathogenicity of Zoonotic Streptococci

Marcus Fulde and Peter Valentin-Weigand

Adherence and Invasion of Streptococci to Eukaryotic Cells and Their Role

in Disease Pathogenesis

Manfred Rohde and G. Singh Chhatwal

Common Regulators of Virulence in Streptococci

Nadja Patenge, Tomas Fiedler and Bernd Kreikemeyer

Host-Pathogen Interactions in Streptococcal Immune Sequelae

D. Patric Nitsche-Schmitz and Gursharan S. Chhatwal

Immunopathogenesis of Streptococcal Deep Tissue Infections

Linda Johansson and Anna Norrby-Teglund

Oonagh Shannon, Heiko Herwald and Sonja Oehmcke

Group A Streptococcal Vaccine Candidates: Potential for the Development of a Human Vaccine

Anna Henningham, Christine M. Gillen and Mark J. Walker

Clinical Management of the Most Common Group A ß-Hemolytic Streptococcal Infections

Edward Kaplan

Streptococci are Gram-positive bacteria that cause a wide spectrum of diseases, such as pharyngitis, necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, as well as rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease as sequelae. Antibiotics alone have not been able to control the disease and in spite of many efforts an effective vaccine is not yet available. A prerequisite for novel and successful strategies for combating these bacteria is a complete understanding of the highly complex pathogenic mechanisms involved, which are analyzed in this volume. In ten chapters, prominent authors cover various aspects including streptococcal diseases and global burden, epidemiology, adaptation and transmission, and molecular mechanisms of different diseases, as well as sequelae, vaccine development and clinical management. This book will serve as a valuable reference work for scientists, students, clinicians and public health workers and provide new approaches to meeting the challenge of streptococcal diseases.