Differences between Belgian and Brazilian group A Streptococcus epidemiologic landscape

• Published in: PloS one 2006-12, Vol.1 (1), p.e10
• Main Authors: Smeesters, Pierre Robert, Vergison, Anne, Campos, Dioclécio, de Aguiar, Eurico, Miendje Deyi, Veronique Yvette, Van Melderen, Laurence
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age; Antibiotics; Antigens, Bacterial - genetics; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Base Sequence; Belgium - epidemiology; Brazil - epidemiology; Carrier Proteins - genetics; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Developed Countries; Developing Countries; Disease control; DNA Primers - genetics; Epidemiology; Female; Fever; Genes, Bacterial; Genetic diversity; Health aspects; Humans; Impetigo - epidemiology; Impetigo - microbiology; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infection; Infections; Infectious Diseases; Infectious Diseases/Bacterial Infections; LDCs; Low density lipoproteins; Male; Medical research; Microbiology/Medical Microbiology; Molecular Epidemiology; Multilocus sequence typing; Pediatrics; Pediatrics and Child Health; Pharyngitis; Pharyngitis - epidemiology; Pharyngitis - microbiology; Predictive control; Proteins; Public Health and Epidemiology; Rheumatic fever; Risk Factors; Skin; Streptococcal Infections - epidemiology; Streptococcal Infections - microbiology; Streptococcus; Streptococcus infections; Streptococcus pyogenes; Streptococcus pyogenes - classification; Streptococcus pyogenes - genetics; Streptococcus pyogenes - isolation & purification; Surveillance; Tropism
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000010

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) clinical and molecular epidemiology varies with location and time. These differences are not or are poorly understood. We prospectively studied the epidemiology of GAS infections among children in outpatient hospital clinics in Brussels (Belgium) and Brasília (Brazil). Clinical questionnaires were filled out and microbiological sampling was performed. GAS isolates were emm-typed according to the Center for Disease Control protocol. emm pattern was predicted for each isolate. 334 GAS isolates were recovered from 706 children. Skin infections were frequent in Brasília (48% of the GAS infections), whereas pharyngitis were predominant (88%) in Brussels. The mean age of children with GAS pharyngitis in Brussels was lower than in Brasília (65/92 months, p