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. 2021 Feb 4;9(2):124.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines9020124.

Molecular Epidemiology of Group A Streptococcus Infections in The Gambia

Sona Jabang  1 , Annette Erhart  1 , Saffiatou Darboe  1 , Aru-Kumba Baldeh  1 , Valerie Delforge  2 , Gabriella Watson  1   3 , Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko  1 , Rasheed Salaudeen  1 , Bolarinde Lawal  1 , Grant Mackenzie  1 , Anne Botteaux  2 , Martin Antonio  1 , Pierre R Smeesters  2   4 , On Behalf Of The Mrcg StrepA Study Group
Affiliations

Molecular Epidemiology of Group A Streptococcus Infections in The Gambia

Sona Jabang et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

Molecular epidemiological data on Group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection in Africa is scarce. We characterized the emm-types and emm-clusters of 433 stored clinical GAS isolates from The Gambia collected between 2004 and 2018. To reduce the potential for strain mistyping, we used a newly published primer for emm-typing. There was considerable strain diversity, highlighting the need for vaccine development offering broad strain protection.

Keywords: The Gambia; emm-cluster; emm-type; group A streptococcus; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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