Streptococcal Infections ; epidemiology ; Streptococcus pyogenes ; genetics ; pathogenicity

Humans ; Research ; trends ; Streptococcal Infections ; epidemiology ; Streptococcus suis

Carrier State ; epidemiology ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Streptococcal Infections ; epidemiology ; Streptococcus pneumoniae

Animals ; Humans ; Incidence ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Streptococcal Infections ; epidemiology ; transmission ; Zoonoses ; epidemiology ; transmission

At the end of 2022, the World Health Organization reported an increase in group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections, such as scarlet fever, in multiple countries. The outbreak primarily affected children under 10 years old, and the number of deaths was higher than anticipated, causing international concern. This paper reviews the current state of the GAS disease outbreak, its causes, and response measures. The authors aim to draw attention from clinical workers in China and increase their awareness and vigilance regarding this epidemic. Healthcare workers should be aware of the potential epidemiological changes in infectious diseases that may arise after the optimization of control measures for coronavirus disease 2019 to ensure children's health.
Child ; Humans ; Streptococcus pyogenes ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Streptococcal Infections/epidemiology* ; Scarlet Fever/epidemiology* ; Epidemics ; Disease Outbreaks

Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Streptococcal Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Streptococcus suis ; pathogenicity

BACKGROUND: To interpret the serotyping data from group A streptococcal infections and their complications, serotyping data from healthy children are essential. In this study, we determined the serotypes of the strains isolated from the elementary school children located in Seoul and Chinju. METHOD: Eighty-two strains of group A streptococci isolated from Seoul and 76 strains from Chinju were serotyped with T typing, serum opacity reaction (SOR), opacity factor (OF) and M typing. T typing was undertaken by slide agglutination after trypsinization of bacteria, SOR and OF typing by microwell technique and M typing by Ouchterlony double immunodiffusion after Lancefield's extraction method. RESULTS: In Seoul T 12 (52.4%), T 3 (9.8%), T 5 (8.5%) and T 27 (8.5%) were frequently encountered. In Chinju T 12 (44.7%), T 28 (13.2%) and T 6 (7.9%) were commonly identified. While M 12 (48.8%) and M 5 (14.6%) were most common in Seoul, M 12 (26.3%), M 22 (14.5%) and M 28 (10.5%) were widely distributed in Chinju. SOR positivity was 15.9% in Seoul and 54.0% in Chinju respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The distributions of serotypes of group A streptococci between the two areas were more or less different. Serotyping of strains from healthy children may be considered as the basic data to understand the epidemiology of bona fide group A streptococcal infections and disease association of virulent strains.
Agglutination ; Bacteria ; Child ; Epidemiology ; Gyeongsangnam-do* ; Humans ; Immunodiffusion ; Seoul* ; Serotyping ; Streptococcal Infections ; Trypsin

BACKGROUND: To evaluate serological typing of T(epidemiologic marker) and M protein(major virulence antigen) is important to understand pathogenesis and epidemiology of streptococcal infection. The purpose of this study is to find out whether there were major difference in distribution of serotypes isolated from healthy school children and patients with pharyngotonsillitis, and to characterize the geographical differences in distribution of the serotypes. METHOD: Twenty-three strains of group A streptococci were isolated from healthy school children in two different areas(Dongdaemun-Ku and Kangsuh-Ku) in Seoul in April and July 1996. 23 strains came from patients living in Dongjak-Ku with pharyngotonsillitis in April 1996. All isolated were serotyped by T agglutination, M precipitation and opacity factor at the WHO Collaborative Center for Reference and Research on Streptococci, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. RESULTS: 89.1% of the strains were typable by T agglutination, 56.5% by M precipitation, and 52.2% were positive in opacity factor. T types 1, 25, 4, and 12 accounted for 65.2% of patients with pharyngotonsillitis, T types 12, and 25 accounted for 71.5% of healthy children in Dongdaemun-Ku, and T types 28, 6, and 3 accounted for 62.6% of healthy children in Kangsuh-Ku. T types 1, 25, 28, 12, 4 and M types 1, 75, 28, 4, 12 were typed in decreasing order. CONCLUSION: We characterized the differences in serotypes of group A streptocpcci between healthy children and patients. The periodic and seasonal serotyping analysis is important in monitoring and understanding of the epidemiologic patterns of group A streptococci.
Agglutination ; Child* ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Minnesota ; Seasons ; Seoul ; Serotyping* ; Streptococcal Infections ; Virulence

Serotypings have been used as markers for epidemiological surveys of Streptococcus pyogenes infections. Seventy-seven strains of S. pyogenes isolated from the throats of elementary school children in Kangwon Province in Korea in March and April 1992 were serotyped with M and/or opacity factor (OF) antisera. Sixty-eight strains of S. pyogenes from healthy school children in Chungnam Province in March 1993 were also serotyped and the distribution of serotype was compared with the isolates from those living in Kangwon Province. The distributions of M types were quite different between the two areas. M-78 (46.8%) and M-28 (22.1%) were most frequently encountered in Kangwon Province, while M-5 (20.6%), M-12 (16.2%), M-3 (13.2%), M-1 (11.8%) and M-62 (11.8%) were frequently isolated in Chungnam Province. Eighty-seven percent of strains in Kangwon produced OF while 33.2% of those in Chungnam produced OF (p< 0.0001). The difference in the distribution of serotypes and of OF production in the isolates from the children in the two provinces may be responsible for differences in the epidemiology of group A streptococcal infections and their sequelae.
Child ; Comparative Study ; Human ; Korea/epidemiology ; Residence Characteristics ; Rural Population ; Serotyping ; Streptococcal Infections/epidemiology/*microbiology ; Streptococcus pyogenes/*classification/pathogenicity ; Virulence

PURPOSE: The incidence of acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) in Korea has changed. This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical changes of APSGN observed in a single Korean institution over two decades. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 99 children (0-15 years of age) who were admitted to our institution with APSGN between 1987 and 2013. The patients were selected based on the depression of serum complement 3 (C3, <70 mg/dL) and elevated titer of antistreptolysin O (ASO, >250 IU/dL) as evidence of previous streptococcal infection. RESULTS: In the 99 patients, the mean age was 8.3 +/- 2.7 years, and the male-tofemale ratio was 2.2:1 (66:30). The annual number of cases fluctuated markedly, and most cases were observed during the late autumn and winter months. However, there have been few cases reported in the past 5 years. Clinical manifestations at presentation, including hypertension and generalized oedema, and the duration of hospitalization were higher and longer in patients admitted during the first half of the study period than during the most recent half-period, suggesting a more severe clinical course in the former group. CONCLUSIONS: APSGN has become a rare disease in Korea with a trend towards a less severe clinical course. This finding suggests that the prevalence of infection-related immune-mediated diseases could change over-time, together with environmental and possibly pathogen-host relationship changes.
Antistreptolysin ; Child ; Complement C3 ; Depression ; Epidemiology ; Glomerulonephritis* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Korea ; Prevalence ; Rare Diseases ; Retrospective Studies ; Streptococcal Infections