title: Arcanobacterium haemolyticum and streptococcal pharyngitis.
abstract: Arcanobacterium haemolyticum was recovered from 0.5% of throat cultures of 3,922 patients seeking medical attention because of sore throat. Most of the patients positive for A. haemolyticum were 15-25 years old, and had fever (80%), lymphadenopathy (67%), pharyngeal exudate (69%) or skin rash (23%). In this age group, 2% of the throat cultures proved positive for A. haemolyticum. All A. haemolyticum strains were susceptible to penicillin, erythromycin, cephalexin and clindamycin, but resistant to trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole. In half of the patients with A. haemolyticum it was the only bacterial pathogen isolated, while in the remainder, beta-haemolytic streptococci were also detected. As expected, beta-haemolytic streptococci were much more frequent than A. haemolyticum in the throat cultures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Aurora Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: O V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Renkonen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kontiainen
mesh_terms: D000191:Actinomycetaceae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000193:Actinomycetales Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology