Current insights in invasive group A streptococcal infections in pediatrics
European Journal of Pediatrics, 03/19/2012

Filleron A et al. – More generally, emergence of virulent clones responsible for septic and toxic disease is a matter of concern in pediatric infectiology in the absence of vaccination strategy.

• A rising incidence of invasive group A Streptococcus infections (IGASI) has been noted in children in the past three decades.
• The relative frequency of the infection types showed marked differences to IGASI in adults, and severity of the disease resulted in a mortality rate usually comprising between 3.6% and 8.3%.
• The emm1-type group A Streptococcus (GAS) subclone displaying a particular pattern of virulence factors was widely disseminated and prevalent in children with IGASI while the emm3-type GAS subclone appeared as a recent emerging genotype.
• Recent advances in knowledge on pathogenesis of IGASI underlined that deregulation of virulence factor production, individual susceptibility, as well as exuberant cytokine response are important factors that may account for the severity of the disease in children.