Jr. Carapetis et al., Clinical and epidemiological features of group A streptococcal bacteraemiain a region with hyperendemic superficial streptococcal infection, EPIDEM INFE, 122(1), 1999, pp. 59-65
Reports of increasing incidence and severity of invasive group A streptococ
cal (GAS) infections come mainly from affluent populations where exposure t
o GAS is relatively infrequent. We conducted a B-year retrospective review
of GAS bacteraemia in the Northern Territory of Australia, comparing the Ab
original population (24% of the study population), who have high rates of o
ther streptococcal infections and sequelae, to the non-Aboriginal populatio
n. Of 72 episodes, 44 (61%) were in Aboriginal patients. All 12 cases in ch
ildren were Aboriginal. Risk factors were implicated in 82 % of episodes (9
1 % in adults) and there was no significant difference in the proportion of
Aboriginal compared to non-Aboriginal patients with at least one risk fact
or. Genetic typing of isolates revealed no dominant strains and no evidence
of a clone which has been a common cause of these infections elsewhere.