4. Pharyngeal carriage of Group A streptococci among school children

Abstract

Abstract:Objectives: The aims of the study were to determine the pharyngeal carriage rate of Group A streptococci among school children at Thrissur, Kerala and to determine the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of the above isolates. Materials and methods: Throat swabs were collected from a total of 260 asymptomatic children(130 each from rural and urban areas) of eighth and ninth standard classes during a period between July 2012 and July 2013. Presumptively identified Group A Streptococci (GAS/Streptococcus pyogenes) were serogrouped by agglutination tests using specific antisera. Antibiotic sensitivity was performed by disc diffusion method following CLSI guidelines. Results: The GAS carriage rate noted in the study was 23.1%. Carriage distribution was found to be independent of age, sex and locality with more number of cases during winter season. All the isolates were found to be sensitive to Penicillin and Vancomycin. Five isolates each were found to be resistant to Erythromycin and Clindamycin respectively. Inducible Clindamycin resistance was demonstrated in three of them. GAS was isolated from the throat swab of one child with past history of joint pains and another child with past history of skin infection-both of them presently had findings of heart disease. Conclusion: When screened and appropriately treated with antibiotics, carriers can be prevented from spreading streptococcal infections in the school environment and the community. Combined efforts by clinicians, community health personnel and clinical microbiologists are required for the early detection and control of streptococcal infections. .

Throat Carriage rate, Associated Factors, and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Group A Streptococcus Among Healthy School Children in Jigjiga City, Eastern Ethiopia

“…All GAS isolates were sensitive to penicillin in our study. The same high activity of penicillin had been reported in many countries, namely Ethiopia (14,15,32), Uganda (24), India (17), Nepal (22,28) and Argentina (26). Our ndings reveal that amoxicillin (89.8%) and ceftriaxone (95.9%) have slightly reduced sensitivity against S. pyogenes when compared to recently published publications in Senegal and Ethiopia (15,33).…”

“…A carrier rate comparable to ours has been recorded in Ethiopia (9.7% and 12.2%, respectively) (14,15), United Arab Emirates (10%) (21), Nepal (10.8%) (22), and Yemen (12.8%) (23). However, the prevalence was lower than those reported in Uganda (16.0 %) (24), Egypt (16%) (25), India (23.1%) (17), Argentina (14.2 %) (26) and Brazil (14.0 %) (27). Our results showed a higher carriage rate than Gabon's 5.8% ( 27) and Nepal's 5.0 % (28).…”

“…Crowding and poor hygiene, therefore, increases the chance of the transmission of S. pyogenes (31). As reported in Ethiopia ( 14) and other regions of the world, there was no signi cant statistical connection between GAS colonization rate and gender or age in this study (17,23,25).…”

“…Data on the socio-demographic characteristics of the parents/guardians and children, as well as the children's clinical history, were collected using a structured questionnaire adopted from previous studies (15,17). Two professional nurses administered the questionnaires, and two trained laboratory personnel used cotton swabs to collect a throat sample from a selected child.…”

The rate of asymptomatic throat carriage of Streptococcus pyogenes and its associated risk factors among Kabul University students

“…Out of 61 beta hemolytic streptococci carrier, 72.1% (44/61) of students had S. pyogenes on their throat (carrier state). The prevalence (throat carrier rate) of S. pyogenes in Kabul university students was 16.9% compared with India 11.2 to 34% [14] Turkey 2-46% [15] Argentine 5-7% [16]. According to ages, the highest prevalence of S. pyogenes asymptomatic throat carriage was in the lowest age sub group (19-21 years) compared to other sub groups (22-24, 25-27 and 28-30y), which shows that throat carriage of this organism decrease by age and it was similar with the many previous studies in other countries [6,[17][18][19][20].…”