Group B Streptococcus: working towards a global solution for a global problem

Group B Streptococcus: working towards a global solution for a global problem

Group B Streptococcus: working towards a global solution for a global problem (123917)

Anna Seale ¹

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, London, United Kingdom

Reducing death at and around birth is critical worldwide. Infection is an important cause of this mortality, and group B streptococcus (GBS, Streptococcus agalactiae) is a leading cause, resulting in around 130,000 perinatal and infant deaths annually. Interventions to reduce GBS through screening and intrapartum-antibiotic prophylaxis have been applied in high income countries but are unlikely to reduce stillbirth -associated GBS disease and/or late onset neonatal GBS disease. An effective GBS vaccine given in pregnancy could reduce this burden, but has, does, and will, require collaboration and innovation from partners worldwide.

#LISSSD2025

Authors contributing to this presentation.

Seale, A

Anna is Principal Officer, Maternal Immunization Product Development and Surveillance at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She is an Honorary Professor of Public Health at the University of Warwick and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Anna is clinically qualified and specialized in pediatrics prior to public health. She has worked extensively on the epidemiology of perinatal infection, particularly Group B Streptococcus. She has set-up surveillance platforms in East Africa, and studied outbreaks, leading an analytical team in the Department of Health, UK, at the height of COVID-19. She currently leads the Maternal Immunization and Group B Streptococcus Vaccine Initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She is now based in the UK, having lived for several years in East Africa (Kenya and Ethiopia).

Group B Streptococcus: working towards a global solution for a global problem (123917)

Add notes

Seale, A

Login