Rheumatic heart disease in Indigenous children could be spread by throat bacteria, researchers find

Exclusive: strep A genome sequencing by Australian scientists will likely have implications for prevention and vaccine development

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An entirely preventable condition leaving Indigenous children with severe and irreversible heart damage may be spread due to a reservoir of bacteria in the throat that causes no symptoms in the host, Australian researchers have found.

It is a discovery that will likely have implications for rheumatic heart disease (RHD) prevention and vaccine development, infectious diseases physicians say.

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