J Korean Pediatr Soc.  1996 Feb;39(2):238-245.

Bacteriological Survey of beta-Hemolytic Streptococci from the Throats of Elementary School Children in Chinju: Compared with the Results of Children in Kangwon, Chungnam and Seoul

• Kim SJ
• Maeng KY
• Lee HI
• Cho YK
• Yun HS

Abstract

PURPOSE
Throat culture for streptococcal pharyngitis is a gold standard to diagnose, but it may be misleading to interpret due to the carriers. The isolation rates of beta-hemolytic streptococci (BHS) and Streptococcus pyogenes in the school children in Chinju were investigated and compared with those of Kangwon, Chungnam and Seoul previously reported.
METHODS
Throat cultures were taken from the healthy 476 elementary school children who had no symptoms or signs of upper respiratory tract infection in April 1995, and the beta-hemolytic streptococci were identified with bacitracin disk (0.04 U) and latex agglutination.
RESULTS
One-hundred fifty-four (32.4%) yielded BHS and 88 (18.5%) had S. pyogenes. The serogrouping revealed 30 (6.7%) group G, 24 (5.0%) group C, 4 (0.8%) group B, and 8 (1.7%) non-group A,B,C,G respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
The isolation rate of BHS in Chinju was significantly higher (p<0.001) than the results of Kangwon, Chungnam and Seoul. The identification of BHS was also different from the other areas. In addition to these bacteriologic investigation, the study should be followed whether these carriers were simple contact ones or suffered from asymptomatic infections, and the epidemiologic study using serotyping, such as M or T typing, is necessary.

Keyword

Beta-hemolytic streptococci; Streptococcus pyogenes

MeSH Terms

Agglutination
Asymptomatic Infections
Bacitracin
Child*
Chungcheongnam-do*
Epidemiologic Studies
Gangwon-do*
Gyeongsangnam-do*
Humans
Latex
Pharyngitis
Pharynx*
Respiratory Tract Infections
Seoul*
Serotyping
Streptococcus pyogenes
Bacitracin
Latex