PO Box 1488
Warrenville, IL 60555
Phone: 331.248.7888
Email: sidp@affinity-strategies.com
Group A Streptococcal infections remain a global challenge, spanning common conditions like pharyngitis to severe invasive disease. Dr. Shiranee Sriskandan, Dr. Josh Osowicki, and Dr. Tom Parks join host Dr. Erin McCreary to explore the evolving landscape of Group A Strep. From unpacking vaccine development challenges and the ongoing burden of rheumatic fever, to rethinking durations of therapy for strep throat and the role of adjunctive treatments, we have you covered! Join us as we break down key controversies, share expert insights, and highlight practical pearls you can apply in your own practice.
References:
1. https://www.lancefieldsociety.org/
2. Osowicki J, Lamagni TL. Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease in the US. JAMA. 2025;333(17):1493-1494. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.3257
3. Davis K, Abo YN, Steer AC, Osowicki J. Chains of misery: surging invasive group A streptococcal disease. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2024;37(6):485-493. doi:10.1097/QCO.0000000000001064
4. Osowicki J, Azzopardi KI, Fabri L, et al. A controlled human infection model of Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis (CHIVAS-M75): an observational, dose-finding study. Lancet Microbe. 2021;2(7):e291-e299. doi:10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30240-8
5. Hla TK, Osowicki J, Marsh JA, et al. Establishing the lowest penicillin concentration to prevent pharyngitis due to Streptococcus pyogenes using a human challenge model (CHIPS): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Microbe. 2025;6(5):101038. doi:10.1016/j.lanmic.2024.101038
Guests
Dr Josh Osowicki is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and leads the ‘Vaccine Challenges’ team in in the Tropical Diseases group at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Osowicki’s research focuses on Streptococcus pyogenes and human challenge research, which serves as an innovative platform for accelerating the development of vaccines and other interventions targeting high-priority pathogens. He is also a lead investigator for the STReptococcal Adaptive Platform Trial (STRAP), a sister trial to SNAP.
Dr Tom Parks is a Clinical Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London, UK. The main focus of his research is the diverse diseases caused the human-restricted bacterial pathogen, Streptococcus pyogenes, which is also known as the Group A streptococcus. He is the current President of the Lancefield Society, an international association that brings together professionals in the field of streptococci and streptococcal diseases to raise awareness, promote scientific collaboration and research, and improve diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
Shiranee is Professor of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London and a Clinical Infectious Diseases consultant at Hammersmith and St Mary’s Hospitals. She leads the Gram Positive Pathogenesis research group within the Department of Infectious Disease, where she is section head of Adult Infectious Diseases, and Co-Director of Imperial’s Centre for Bacteriology Resistance Biology. Her group works on the mechanisms that allow Streptococcus pyogenes to cause extreme clinical phenotypes in individuals and populations, ranging from novel lineages to host immune response, and vaccines.
