One of the virulence factors produced by group a streptococcus is which can kill neutrophils, the immune system’s first responders.

Streptococcus is a genus of coccus (spherical) Gram-positive bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes[3] and the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria). Cell division in this genus occurs along a single axis in these bacteria, thus they grow in chains or pairs, hence the name—from Greekstreptos, meaning easily bent or twisted, like a chain (twisted chain). Contrast this with staphylococci, which divide along multiple axes and generate grape-like clusters of cells.)