title: Septicaemia caused by phenotypic variants of group A streptococci.
abstract: Clinical isolates (115) of Streptococcus pyogenes responsible for septicaemia were investigated to determine whether invasiveness may be correlated with a large variety of strains, or concerns only particular phenotypes. Irrespective of their clinical origin, the strains studied displayed seven of the ten biotypes described within this species. As already observed in a series of strains isolated from pharyngitis, a restricted association between M-types and biotypes was demonstrated; each M-type corresponded to a sole biotype. However, the proportion of biotypes 3, 5 and 7 was higher in the septicaemia series than in the pharyngitis series, with a larger variety of M-types and with more non-typable strains. Despite these differences, the restricted associations between these characters were concordant in both series. These results demonstrate that streptococcal septicaemias appear to be caused by a wide variety of strains, suggesting that multiple factors may be involved in the invasiveness of the bloodstream during streptococcal infections.
authors.affiliation: Centre National de Référence des Pneumocoques, Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Créteil, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Geslin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kriz-Kuzemenska
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frémaux
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Havlickova
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dublanchet
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bouvet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000382:microbiology*; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012703:Serotyping; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000302:isolation & purification*