SUMMARYStreptococcus pyogenescauses a variety of infections because of virulence factors such as capsular hyaluronic acid and M protein. The aim of this study was to determineemmtypes and capsule phenotype in 110 isolates ofS. pyogenesfrom patients with invasive (sterile sites) and non-invasive (mainly pharyngitis) infections in Chile, and the relationship between both virulence factors. The most abundant types found wereemm12,emm1,emm4andemm28and their distribution was similar to that seen in Latin America and developed countries, but very different from that in Asia and Pacific Island countries. Ten of 16emmtypes identified in pharyngeal isolates were found in sterile-site isolates, and three of nineemmtypes of sterile-site isolates occurred in pharyngeal isolates; threeemmsubtypes were novel. The amount of hyaluronic acid was significantly higher in sterile-site isolates but did not differ substantially amongemmtypes. Only three isolates were markedly capsulate and two of them had mutations in thecsrRgene that codes for a repressor of capsule synthesis genes. We found a non-random association betweenemmtypes andcsrRgene alleles suggesting that horizontal gene transfer is not freely occurring in the population.