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. 2023 Jan;28(1):2200941.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.1.2200941.

Increase in invasive group A streptococcal (Streptococcus pyogenes) infections (iGAS) in young children in the Netherlands, 2022

Brechje de Gier  1 , Niek Marchal  1 , Ilse de Beer-Schuurman  2 , Margreet Te Wierik  1 , Mariëtte Hooiveld  3 ; ISIS-AR Study Group  4 ; GAS Study group  5 ; Hester E de Melker  1 , Nina M van Sorge  2   6 ; Members of the GAS study group; Members of the ISIS-AR study group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Increase in invasive group A streptococcal (Streptococcus pyogenes) infections (iGAS) in young children in the Netherlands, 2022

Brechje de Gier et al. Euro Surveill. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

In 2022, a sevenfold increase in the number of notifiable invasive Streptococcus pyogenes (iGAS) infections among children aged 0-5 years was observed in the Netherlands compared with pre-COVID-19 pandemic years. Of 42 cases in this age group, seven had preceding or coinciding varicella zoster infections, nine were fatal. This increase is not attributable to a specific emm type. Vigilance for clinical deterioration as iGAS sign is warranted in young children, especially those with varicella zoster infection.

Keywords: Streptococcus pyogenes; iGAS; varicella.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: NMvS declared fees consultancy services directly paid to the institution from MSD and GSK outside the submitted work. NMvS declared royalties related to a patent (WO 2013/020090 A3) on vaccine development against Streptococcus pyogenes (Vaxcyte; Licensee: University of California San Diego with NMvS as co-inventor).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Notifications of culture-confirmed invasive group A streptococcal infection (iGAS) by disease presentation and month of disease onset, for all ages, the Netherlands, 1 January 2016–31 December 2022 (n = 1,816)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Notifications of culture-confirmed invasive group A streptococcal infections (streptococcal toxic shock syndrome or necrotising fasciitis) among children aged 0–5 years, by month of disease onset, the Netherlands, 1 January 2016–31 December 2022 (n = 72)
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Number and (C) proportion of emm types among all Streptococcus pyogenes isolates (n = 1,083) and (B) number and (D) proportion among S. pyogenes isolates from children aged 0–5 years (n = 177), by month of isolate submission to NRLBM, the Netherlands, 1 January–31 December 2022
Figure 4
Figure 4
Number of children aged 0–5 years with a positive Streptococcus pyogenes culture per month, (A) all diagnostic (infection-related) cultures (n = 3,321) and (B) cultures from blood or cerebrospinal fluid (n =119), from 36 medical microbiological laboratories, the Netherlands, January 2019–August 2022
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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