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Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) is responsible for a significant global health and economic burden. The recent prioritization of Strep A vaccine development by the World Health Organization has prompted global research activities and collaborations. To progress this prioritization, establishment of robust surveillance for Strep A to generate updated regional disease burden estimates and to establish platforms for future impact evaluation is essential.

Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream (SAB) infection is a common and severe infectious disease, with a 90-day mortality of 15%-30%. Despite this, <3000 people have been randomized into clinical trials of treatments for SAB infection.

A high burden of bacterial skin infections is well documented in remote-living Indigenous children and young people in high-income countries.

Achieving healthy skin requires the prevention of infectious diseases that affect the skin. Prevention activities range from environmental health improvements to address inequities in living situations, through to community-wide treatment programs to reduce transmission and improve skin health.

Recruitment in research can be challenging in Australian Aboriginal contexts. We aimed to evaluate the SToP (See, Treat, Prevent skin infections) trial recruitment approach for Aboriginal families to identify barriers and facilitators and understand the utility of the visual resource used.

Impetigo or skin sores are estimated to affect >162 million people worldwide. Detailed descriptions of the anatomical location of skin sores are lacking.

Combination antibiotic therapy with an antitoxin agent, such as clindamycin, is included in some guidelines for severe, toxin-mediated Staphylococcus aureus infections. The evidence to support this practice is currently limited to in vitro, animal and observational human case-series data, with no previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Scabies is an important predisposing factor of impetigo which can lead to serious bacterial complications. Ivermectin-based mass drug administration can substantially reduce scabies and impetigo prevalence in endemic settings, but the impact on serious bacterial complications is not known.

This research sought to provide an outline of identified household-level environmental health initiatives to reduce or interrupt Strep A transmission along each of these pathways.

Scabies and related bacterial skin and soft tissue infections are highly prevalent in many tropical, low- and middle-income settings. These skin conditions contribute to higher healthcare costs and burdens on healthcare systems.