Epidemiological analysis of Group A streptococcus infection diseases among children in Beijing, China under COVID-19 pandemic

BMC Pediatrics

Research

Lijuan Ma¹  Lin Zhou¹  Hongxin Li²  Xiaoyan Liu²  Haihua Zhang²  Yan Liu²  Jin Hu²  Yong Zhao³ 

[1] Department of Clinical Laboratory, Children’s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics, 100020, Beijing, China;Department of Dermatology, Children’s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics, 100020, Beijing, China;Department of Reproductive Medicine, Senior Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, The Seventh Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China;

关键词: Group A streptococcus;    Emm;    Superantigen;    Antimicrobial resistance;    Scarlet fever;    Children;    COVID-19 pandemic;    China;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12887-023-03885-7

 received in 2022-07-29, accepted in 2023-02-03,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundGroup A streptococcus is human-restricted gram-positive pathogen, responsible for various clinical presentations from mild epidermis infections to life threatened invasive diseases. Under COVID-19 pandemic,. the characteristics of the epidemic strains of GAS could be different.PurposeTo investigate epidemiological and molecular features of isolates from GAS infections among children in Beijing, China between January 2020 and December 2021. Antimicrobial susceptibility profiling was performed based on Cinical Laboratory Sandards Institute. Distribution of macrolide-resistance genes, emm types, and superantigens was examined by polymerase chain reaction.Results114 GAS isolates were collected which were frequent resistance against erythromycin (94.74%), followed by clindamycin (92.98%), tetracycline (87.72%). Emm12 (46.49%), emm1 (25.44%) were dominant emm types. Distribution of ermB, ermA, and mefA gene was 93.85%, 2.63%, and 14.04%, respectively. Frequent superantigenes identified were smeZ (97.39%), speG (95.65%), and speC (92.17%). Emm1 strains possessed smeZ, ssa, and speC, while emm12 possessed smeZ, ssa, speG, and speC. Erythromycin resistance was predominantly mediated by ermB. Scarlet fever strains harbored smeZ (98.81%), speC (94.05%). Impetigo strains harbored smeZ (88.98%), ssa (88.89%), and speC (88.89%). Psoriasis strains harbored smeZ (100%).ConclusionsUnder COVID-19 pandemic, our collections of GAS infection cutaneous diseases decreased dramatically. Epidemiological analysis of GAS infections among children during COVID-19 pandemic was not significantly different from our previous study. There was a correlation among emm, superantigen gene and disease manifestations. Long-term surveillance and investigation of emm types and superantigens of GAS prevalence are imperative.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023