scholarly journals Paediatric case of group A streptococcal pharyngitis, arthritis and osteomyelitis associated with dental neglect

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. e239196
Author(s):  
Tomohiro Hiraoka ◽  
Taro Chujo ◽  
Mitsuru Tsuge ◽  
Yoichi Kondo

Group A streptococcus (GAS) causes a wide variety of infections in the paediatric population, ranging from pharyngitis to rare but severe invasive diseases, such as bacterial arthritis and osteomyelitis. Dental neglect is a type of child neglect in which caregivers fail to provide adequate care and treatment for dental diseases. This results in poor oral hygiene and can lead to complications including sepsis. We report the case of a 4-year-old boy, suffering from child neglect, presenting with GAS pharyngitis and subsequent bacterial arthritis in the right ankle, osteomyelitis in the right talus and abscess in the right calcaneus. He was first treated with penicillin, which was changed to clindamycin because of a suspected drug-induced rash. He was discharged after 6 weeks of intravenous therapy when symptoms had resolved and inflammatory markers were within the normal range. The case highlights that dental neglect may present a risk for subsequent invasive infections.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. e241339
Author(s):  
Kaori Amari ◽  
Masaki Tago ◽  
Naoko E Katsuki ◽  
Shu-ichi Yamashita

We herein report three cases of group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection in a family. Patient 1, a 50-year-old woman, was transferred to our hospital in shock with acute respiratory distress syndrome, swelling in the right neck and erythemata on both lower extremities. She required intubation because of laryngeal oedema. At the same time, patient 2, a 48-year-old man, was admitted because of septic shock, pneumonia and a pulmonary abscess. Five days later, patient 3, a 91-year-old woman, visited our clinic with bloody stool. All three patients were cured by antibiotics, and GAS was detected by specimen cultures. During these patients’ clinical course, an 84-year-old woman was found dead at home after having been diagnosed with type A influenza. All four patients lived in the same apartment. The GAS genotypes detected in the first three patients were identical. When treating patients with GAS, appropriate management of close contacts is mandatory.


2004 ◽  
Vol 132 (suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. 39-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Branimir Nestorovic ◽  
Suzana Laban-Nestorovic ◽  
Veselinka Paripovic ◽  
Katarina Milosevic

Beta-hemolytic group A streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes) is the most common bacterial agent associated with the upper respiratory tract infections in humans. The most frequently group A streptococcus-associated disease is pharyngitis. Males and females are equally affected by group A streptococcus. There is seasonal increase in the prevalence of group A streptococcus-associated pharyngitis. Streptococcal pharyngitis is most prevalent in winter and early spring with higher incidence of disease observed in crowded population such as school children. Early diagnosis and treatment of group A streptococcal pharyngitis has been shown to reduce the severity of symptoms and further complications such as rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis. The conventional methods used for identification of group A streptococci depend on isolation and identification of the organism on blood agar plates. These methods usually require 18-24 hours of incubation at 37?C. Such delay in identifying the group A streptococcus has often made physicians to administer therapy without first disclosing the etiological agent. Development of immunologic tests, capable of detecting the group A streptococcal antigen directly from the throat swabs, produced rapid test results employed for better treatment of patients. STREP A test is a rapid immunochromatographic test for the detection of group A streptococci from throat swabs or culture. The accuracy of the test does not depend on the organism viability. Instead, group A strep antigen is extracted directly from the swab and identified using antibodies specific for the group A carbohydrates. We compared rapid test with conventional throat swab in 40 children, who met Centor criteria for streptococcal pharyngitis (absence of cough, high fever, purulent pharyngitis, enlarged and painful cervical lymph nodes). Overall congruence of rapid test and culture was 94%. Test is easy to perform and it is recommended as the first diagnostic test for management of children with streptococcal pharyngitis. In children with negative test, but with characteristics highly suggestive of streptococcal infection, throat culture should be performed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tam T Van ◽  
Javier Mestas ◽  
Jennifer Dien Bard

Abstract Background Group A Streptococcus (GAS) and large colony-forming group C (GCS) and G (GGS) β-hemolytic streptococci are important causes of acute pharyngitis in children and adults. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis can improve patient care and potentially reduce transmission. In this study, we evaluated the performance of the Lyra Direct Strep (LDS) assay for detection of GAS and GCS/GGS compared with traditional culture methods. Methods Pharyngeal samples obtained from 278 children presenting to the emergency department with initial negative GAS rapid antigen detection test (RADT) were used. All samples were cultured as part of routine care and tested in batches using the LDS assay. Results Of 278 pharyngeal samples with negative GAS RADT, 37 (13.3%) and 63 (22.7%) patients were positive for GAS by culture and LDS assay, respectively. Four (1.4%) patients were positive for GCS or GGS by culture or LDS assay. The LDS assay demonstrated sensitivity and specificity of 97.6% and 89.0%, respectively, compared with culture as the gold standard. Repeat culture and an alternate PCR showed that 85.7% (24 of 28) of discrepant samples agreed with findings of the LDS assay. Since implementation, the LDS assay shows a positivity rate of 21.0% (281 of 1340) compared with 11.7% (246 of 2110) by culture in the previous year. Conclusions We successfully implemented the LDS assay at our institution and have observed a significant increase in the positivity rate of GAS compared with culture. The LDS assay alone allowed for the elimination of β-streptococci screening by culture at our institution.


2013 ◽  
Vol 81 (11) ◽  
pp. 4121-4127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayelet Michael-Gayego ◽  
Mary Dan-Goor ◽  
Joseph Jaffe ◽  
Carlos Hidalgo-Grass ◽  
Allon E. Moses

ABSTRACTGroup G beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GGS) strains cause severe invasive infections, mostly in patients with comorbidities. GGS is known to possess virulence factors similar to those of its more virulent counterpart group A streptococcus (GAS). A streptococcal invasion locus,sil, was identified in GAS.silencodes a competence-stimulating peptide named SilCR that activates bacterial quorum sensing and has the ability to attenuate virulence in GAS infections. We found thatsilis present in most GGS strains (82%) but in only 25% of GAS strains, with a similar gene arrangement. GGS strains that containedsilexpressed the SilCR peptide and secreted it into the growth medium. In a modified murine model of GGS soft tissue infection, GGS grown in the presence of SilCR caused a milder disease than GGS grown in the absence of SilCR. To further study the role of the peptide in bacterial virulence attenuation, we vaccinated mice with SilCR to produce specific anti-SilCR antibodies. Vaccinated mice developed a significantly more severe illness than nonvaccinated mice. Our results indicate that thesillocus is much more prevalent among the less virulent GGS strains than among GAS strains. GGS strains express and secrete SilCR, which has a role in attenuation of virulence in a murine model. We show that the SilCR peptide can protect mice from infection caused by GGS. Furthermore, vaccinated mice that produce specific anti-SilCR antibodies develop a significantly more severe infection. To our knowledge, this is a novel report demonstrating that specific antibodies against a bacterial component cause more severe infection by those bacteria.


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 1383-1388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeaki Wajima ◽  
Somay Y. Murayama ◽  
Katsuhiko Sunaoshi ◽  
Eiichi Nakayama ◽  
Keisuke Sunakawa ◽  
...  

To determine the prevalence of macrolide antibiotic and levofloxacin resistance in infections with Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus or GAS), strains were collected from 45 medical institutions in various parts of Japan between October 2003 and September 2006. Four hundred and eighty-two strains from patients with GAS infections were characterized genetically. Strains were classified into four groups according to the type of infection: invasive infections (n=74) including sepsis, cellulitis and toxic-shock-like syndrome; acute otitis media (AOM; n=23); abscess (n=53); and pharyngotonsillitis (n=332). Among all strains, 32 emm types were identified; emm1 was significantly more common in invasive infections (39.2 %) and AOM (43.5 %) than in abscesses (3.8 %) or pharyngotonsillitis (10.2 %). emm12 and emm4 each accounted for 23.5 % of pharyngotonsillitis cases. Susceptibility of GAS strains to eight β-lactam agents was excellent, with MICs of 0.0005–0.063 μg ml−1. Macrolide-resistant strains accounted for 16.2 % of all strains, while the percentages of strains possessing the resistance genes erm(A), erm(B) and mef(A) were 2.5 %, 6.2 % and 7.5 %, respectively. Although no strains with high resistance to levofloxacin were found, strains with an MIC of 2–4 μg ml−1 (17.4 %) had amino acid substitutions at either Ser-79 or Asp-83 in ParC. These levofloxacin-intermediately resistant strains included 16 emm types, but macrolide-resistant strains were more likely than others to represent certain emm types.


2019 ◽  
Vol 216 (7) ◽  
pp. 1615-1629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Naegeli ◽  
Eleni Bratanis ◽  
Christofer Karlsson ◽  
Oonagh Shannon ◽  
Raja Kalluru ◽  
...  

Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococcus; GAS) is a human pathogen causing diseases from uncomplicated tonsillitis to life-threatening invasive infections. GAS secretes EndoS, an endoglycosidase that specifically cleaves the conserved N-glycan on IgG antibodies. In vitro, removal of this glycan impairs IgG effector functions, but its relevance to GAS infection in vivo is unclear. Using targeted mass spectrometry, we characterized the effects of EndoS on host IgG glycosylation during the course of infections in humans. Substantial IgG glycan hydrolysis occurred at the site of infection and systemically in the severe cases. We demonstrated decreased resistance to phagocytic killing of GAS lacking EndoS in vitro and decreased virulence in a mouse model of invasive infection. This is the first described example of specific bacterial IgG glycan hydrolysis during infection and thereby verifies the hypothesis that EndoS modifies antibodies in vivo. This mechanisms of immune evasion could have implications for treatment of severe GAS infections and for future efforts at vaccine development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S18-S19
Author(s):  
James Ray Mata Lim ◽  
Bobby L Boyanton ◽  
Julie George ◽  
Matthew Sims

Abstract Background Treatment of Group A Streptococcus (GAS) pharyngitis is imperative to mitigate sequelae such as rheumatic heart disease. The need for treatment of Group C Streptococcus (GCS) and Group G Streptococcus (GGS) pharyngitis is unclear, as rheumatogenic sequelae have not been well documented. Our institution switched from culture to molecular confirmation testing for a negative rapid streptococcal antigen detection test. Cultures reported GAS whereas molecular testing reported GAS, GCS, and GGS. We performed a retrospective chart review to examine the epidemiological differences of GAS, GCS, and GGS pharyngitis. Methods Records were obtained of pharyngeal samples from patients sent for testing at Beaumont Health Laboratory. In all, 92,369 records were analyzed. There were 47,106 records of cultures from May 2012 through December 2014 and 45,263 records of molecular testing from May 2015 to December 2017. Samples positive for either GCS or GGS were reported as positive for Group CG Streptococcus (GCGS). Epidemiological factors were evaluated. If available, electronic records from GCGS positive samples were evaluated for clinical features, antibiotics used, and sequelae or complications reported. Results Molecular testing showed GAS positivity of 9.3% (n = 4,189) and GCGS positivity of 1.5% (n = 687). GCGS pharyngitis was more likely during the summer months and in young adults 13 years and older than children under 13 years. GAS pharyngitis was more likely during spring months and in children aged 4–9 years. Mean age of GCGS pharyngitis was 13 vs. 8.6 years for GAS pharyngitis. Similar results were obtained for GAS between culture and molecular testing records. Amoxicillin was most often prescribed for treatment of GCGS. There were few instances of severe GCGS exudative or recurrent pharyngitis that required hospitalization or tonsillectomy. There were no cases of rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease associated with GCGS. Conclusion This is the largest study based on our literature review to evaluate the epidemiology of GAS, GCS, and GGS pharyngitis in children and adults. We found a seasonal and age difference between GAS and GCGS. Complications were rare, and no rheumatogenic sequelae were noted from GCGS infections. Disclosures All Authors: No reported Disclosures.


1990 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Cimolai ◽  
L. MacCulloch ◽  
S. Damm

SUMMARYThe incidence of beta-haemolytic non-Group A streptococci (BHNAS) in the throats of a paediatric population was examined over a 1-year period. There was minimal seasonal fluctuation of Lancefield groups including species and biotypes within Groups C and G streptococci. A trend of increasing incidence with age ofStreptococcus anginosus(‘Streptococcus milleri’) (possessing Groups C and G Lancefield antigens) was evident. A clinical impression of streptococcal pharyngitis was more common in patients with large-colony Groups C or G streptococci isolated from their throats compared with those patients where other BHNAS were isolated. This study is requisite to the planning of case control studies which are required to test the association of BHNAS (especially Groups C and G subgroups) and pharyngitis.


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