Incidence and pathogenicity of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum during a 2-year study in Ottawa.
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum has been described as a rare cause of systemic invasive disease and is occasionally isolated from throat swabs. We describe a 2-year study of the incidence and clinical features of A. haemolyticus infection in a pediatric and adolescent population. A total of 11,620 throat swabs were examined for A. haemolyticum with use of a locally developed selective medium. Controls (2,241) were healthy students who were recruited from a separate study. A. haemolyticum was isolated from 42 patients, with the maximum incidence in the 15 to 18-year-old age group; in this subset the incidence was 2.5%. There were no isolates of A. haemolyticum found in the healthy controls, and the difference in incidence between patients and controls in the 15 to 18-year-old age group was highly significant (P < .01). Approximately half of the patients infected with A. haemolyticum had a rash. In 5 patients, A. haemolyticum was associated with a positive monospot test. The organism was highly susceptible to erythromycin and less susceptible to penicillin. The evidence from this study suggests that A. haemolyticum may be a pathogen with maximum incidence in the 15 to 18-year-old age group.
Mackenzie
A
A
Division of Microbiology and Immunology, Ottawa Civic Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
Fuite
L A
LA
Chan
F T
FT
King
J
J
Allen
U
U
MacDonald
N
N
Diaz-Mitoma
F
F
D000191:Actinomycetaceae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000193:Actinomycetales Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D010406:Penicillins / Q000494:pharmacology; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D014581:Urticaria / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010406:Penicillins; D004917:Erythromycin