The health and economic burdens of diseases associated with group A Streptococcus in Australia, and the value of new prevention strategies: Echocardiographic screening and vaccination

This thesis demonstrates that the wide range of diseases caused by Group A Streptococcus (GAS) results in considerable health and economic burdens, both at the population level and throughout the lifetime of the individual. In the short-term, an economic case can be made for population-wide echocardiographic screening for rheumatic heart disease in remote Indigenous communities in the northern regions of Australia. However, a vaccine that reduces all GAS disease by 70% would be cost-effective at a price in line with other modern, publicly funded vaccines, with cellulitis and other skin infections being important targets in addition to throat infections.