30 May 2019, SEOUL, South Korea - The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and Australia's Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) will coordinate a global push to free the world of Group A Streptococcus (Strep A), the contagious bacteria that kills half a million people every year and is developing resistance to antibiotics. The British biomedical research foundation, the Wellcome Trust, has granted $2.25 million to IVI and MCRI to coordinate world efforts to develop a vaccine against Strep A and find manufacturers. Director General of IVI, Dr Jerome Kim, said that Strep A, a bacterial pathogen, is one of the most deadly infectious diseases - ranking with tuberculosis (TB), HIV, and malaria but globally very little had been invested in Strep A research. "Strep A is one of the main causes of death from infectious diseases, claiming 500,000 lives per year; however few people are aware of it," Dr Kim said. "Strep A usually begins with a sore throat, but...