1887

Abstract

Group A streptococcus (GAS) has been described as an emerging cause of severe invasive infections. A retrospective hospital-based study was conducted, including GAS isolates causing invasive or non-invasive infections from January 1999 to June 2003 in Barcelona. Demographic and clinical information on the invasive cases was obtained from medical files. GAS isolates collected from 27 patients with invasive infections and 99 patients with non-invasive infections were characterized by type and subtype, superantigen (SAg) gene profile (, , , , and ), allelic variants of and genes, antibiotic susceptibility and genetic resistance determinants. The most prevalent type was (17.5 %), followed by (8.7 %), (8.7 %), (7.1 %) and (7.1 %). The allele and SAg gene profiles were closely associated with the type. The , and alleles were found in , and isolates, respectively. Overall, 27.8, 25.4 and 11.9 % of isolates were resistant to erythromycin, tetracycline or both agents, respectively. Reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin (MIC 2–4 μg ml) was found in 3.2 % of isolates. (A)-positive types 4, 12 and 75, and (B)-positive types 11 and 25 were responsible for up to 80 % of the erythromycin-resistant isolates. No significant differences in -type distribution, SAg gene profile or resistance rates were found between invasive and non-invasive isolates. The SAg and antibiotic resistance genes appeared to be associated with the type and were independent of the disease type.

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2006-08-01
2024-03-29
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