Group a streptococcal

With growing concerns about Group B streptococcal (GBS) infections and their adverse effects on perinatal pregnancies, including infection, premature delivery, neonatal septicemia, and meningitis, it is urgent to promote GBS screening at all pregnancy stages. The purpose of this study is to establish a device-independent, fast, sensitive, and visual GBS detection method. Taking advantage of the characteristics of the recombinase polymerase isothermal amplification (RPA), the activity of the nfo nuclease cleavage base analog (tetrahydrofuran, THF) site, and the advantages of visual reading of the lateral flow chromatography strip (LFS), a GBS detection method was developed...

Mastoiditis is typically considered a suppurative complication of otitis media seen in children. Vaccines and therapeutics can change the demographics of diseases. Childhood vaccination against Haemophilus influenza, for example, has shifted the mean age for ear, nose, and throat infections caused by this bug to age 25, whereas this used to be most prevalent in the pediatric age group previously. The authors present the case of an 82-year-old man who had mastoiditis. This case serves as a reminder to avoid anchoring bias when seeing an undifferentiated patient in the emergency department...

Excessive activation of immune cells by environmental factors, such as infection or individual genetic risk, causes various autoimmune diseases. Streptococcus species are gram-positive bacteria that colonize the nasopharynx, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary tract, and skin. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) species cause various symptoms, ranging from mild infections, such as tonsillitis and pharyngitis, to serious infections, such as necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome...

BACKGROUND: Viridans Group Streptococci (VGS) are a group of distinct species that can cause bacteraemia and other invasive infections. They are also among the common organisms causing infective endocarditis. Data on the epidemiology and clinical profile of VGS is limited, especially from India. METHODS: We conducted an electronic medical record-based retrospective analysis of patients with VGS bacteraemia admitted to our hospital between January 2012 to December 2021...

BACKGROUND: Invasive group A streptococcal disease (iGAS) is caused by Streptococcus pyogenes group A bacteria. In 2022, multiple disease alerts for iGAS in the Island Health region, in the context of increased infections in the paediatric population in Europe and the United States, prompted further investigation into local trends. This surveillance study summarizes epidemiological trends of iGAS in the region covered by Island Health, a regional health authority in British Columbia, in 2022...

SUMMARYGroup A Streptococcus (GAS), also known as Streptococcus pyogenes , is a clinically well-adapted human pathogen that harbors rich virulence determinants contributing to a broad spectrum of diseases. GAS is capable of invading epithelial, endothelial, and professional phagocytic cells while evading host innate immune responses, including phagocytosis, selective autophagy, light chain 3-associated phagocytosis, and inflammation. However, without a more complete understanding of the different ways invasive GAS infections develop, it is difficult to appreciate how GAS survives and multiplies in host cells that have interactive immune networks...

BACKGROUND: Data on SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and infancy has accumulated throughout the course of the pandemic, though evidence regarding asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and adverse birth outcomes are scarce. Limited information is available from countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The pregnant woman and infant COVID in Africa study (PeriCOVID Africa) is a South-South-North partnership involving hospitals and health centres in five countries: Malawi, Uganda, Mozambique, The Gambia, and Kenya...

PURPOSE: The massive increase of infections with Group A Streptococcus (GAS) in 2022-2023 coincided in Switzerland with a change of the recommendations for the management of GAS pharyngitis. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate whether the clinical manifestations and management before hospitalization for GAS infection differed in 2022-2023 compared with 2013-2022. METHODS: Retrospective study of GAS infections requiring hospitalization in patients below 16 years...

BACKGROUND: Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) is a fulminant complication of predominantly invasive group A streptococcal infections. STSS is often characterized by influenza-like symptoms, including fever, chills, and myalgia that can quickly progress to sepsis with hypotension, tachycardia, tachypnea, and multiple organ failure (kidney, liver, lung, or blood). Mortality can exceed 50% depending on the severity of symptoms. CASE SUMMARY: Here, we describe a novel, multi-extracorporeal intervention strategy in a case of severe septic shock secondary to STSS...

Introduction Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a life-threatening disease usually caused by a Staphylococcus aureus or group Aβ-hemolytic Streptococcus infection. Methods In this retrospective study, we included patients with TSS admitted to a tertiary hospital's pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) over the last 18 years. We compared the staphylococcal TSS (Staph-TSS) and streptococcal TSS (Strep-TSS) groups. Results We included 17 patients (64.7% male), with a median age of 6.1 years (3.0 years for streptococcal TSS versus 13...

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OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inflammatory markers for diagnosing bacterial meningitis in neonates with sepsis and/or meningitis. METHODS: Cases were identified from a prospective multicenter study including patients aged 0-3 months with Group B Streptococcal (GBS) or Escherichia coli culture positive sepsis/meningitis. CSF CXCL-10, MDC, IL6, Il-8, IL-10, TNF- α, MIF, IL-1RA, CXCL13, IL-1β, CRP and procalcitonin concentrations were measured with Luminex technology...

Background Invasive group A streptococcal disease (iGAS) causes significant disability and death. Reported associations between iGAS incidence and influenza, varicella and chronic hepatitis C (HCV) have not been well quantified, and these studies have been susceptible to bias. Methods We used individual-level linked data of iGAS cases from Victoria, Australia (2007-2017) to assess associations between these viral infections and iGAS. A self-controlled case series method was used to estimate the relative incidence of iGAS following an influenza or varicella infection, while the relative incidence of iGAS amongst HCV cases, and HCV cases who inject drugs, was estimated using population-level data and a negative binomial regression model...

OBJECTIVES: Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) is caused by group A Streptococcus (GAS; Streptococcus pyogenes) strains. In Japan, the number of STSS cases has decreased; however, the underlying reason remains unclear. Moreover, information on distribution and prevalence of specific emm types in STSS cases is scarce. Hence, we investigated the reason for the decreased number of STSS cases in Japan. METHODS: We genotyped emm of 526 GAS isolates obtained from 526 patients with STSS between 2019 and 2022...

BACKGROUND: Group A Streptococcus (GAS) causes an estimated 5.2 million outpatient visits for pharyngitis annually in the United States (U.S.) with incidence peaking in winter, but the annual spatiotemporal pattern of GAS pharyngitis across the U.S. is poorly characterized. METHODS: We used outpatient claims data from individuals with private medical insurance between 2010-2018 to quantify GAS pharyngitis visit rates across U.S. census regions, subregions, and states...

BACKGROUND: Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis is effective in preventing early-onset group B streptococcal disease in newborn infants, but it influences gut microbiota development. Gut microbiota composition is in turn associated with immune-related diseases in childhood. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that intrapartum antibiotic exposure is associated with immune-related diseases in childhood. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a population-based cohort study of vaginally delivered children...

BACKGROUND: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-exposed uninfected (HEU) infants have a higher burden of infectious diseases related morbidity and mortality compared with HIV-unexposed uninfected (HUU). Immunization of pregnant women living with HIV (PWLWH) could reduce the severity and burden of infectious diseases for HEU in early infancy. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of safety and immunogenicity of vaccines administered to PWLWH and meta-analyses to test the overall effect of immunogenicity comparing pregnant women without HIV (PWWH) to PWLWH...

Background: Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a life-threatening and rare condition. However, we report and analyze a remarkably high number of NF cases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and especially in the first months after the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients and Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 17 cases of NF treated in our clinic between January and May 2023. Data were collected on demographics, comorbidities, risk factors, laboratory findings, and clinical outcomes. For each individual case two risk indicating scores, the Laboratory Risk Indicator for Necrotizing Fasciitis (LRINEC) and Laboratory and Anamnestic Risk Indicator for Necrotizing Fasciitis (LARINF) were calculated...

Background Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a prominent sequela of rheumatic fever (RF) and the most common cause of acquired valvular disease worldwide. Patients develop RHD as a result of autoimmune reactions caused by an untreated group A Streptococcus (GAS) throat infection, resulting in significant valvular destruction. Objectives The current study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of RF and RHD among the Makkah city population in Saudi Arabia. Methods An observational cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of 1364 adult participants from Makkah city in Saudi Arabia...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal cancer associated with an immunosuppressive environment. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) were initially described in the context of infection but have more recently been implicated in contributing to the tolerogenic immune response in PDAC. Thus, NETs are an attractive target for new therapeutic strategies. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) has developed defensive strategies to inhibit NETs. In the present work, we propose utilizing intra-tumoral GAS injection to stimulate anti-tumor activity by inhibiting cancer-promoting NETs...