S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis Bacteremia | CDC EID

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Volume 16, Number 5–May 2010
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Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis Bacteremia, Finland, 1995–2004
Sari Rantala, Susanna Vähäkuopus, Jaana Vuopio-Varkila, Risto Vuento, and Jaana Syrjänen
Author affiliations: Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland (S. Rantala, R. Vuento, J. Syrjänen); National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland (S. Vähäkuopus, J. Vuopio-Varkila); and Medical School, University of Tampere, Tampere (J. Syrjänen)

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Abstract
We conducted a retrospective population-based study of 140 episodes of Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis bacteremia occurring in Finland during 1995–2004. Rare emm types were associated with more severe disease and increased mortality rates. Skin and soft tissue infections were more frequent clinical signs among cases caused by common emm types.
Lancefield groups C and G β-hemolytic streptococci (GCS and GGS) may colonize the pharynx, skin, gastrointestinal tract, and female genitourinary tracts (1). According to recent taxonomic studies, large colony-forming groups C and G streptococci that infect humans are classified as Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (2). S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis and S. pyogenes share virulence factors (3,4). The M protein is an important virulence factor because it confers resistance to phagocytosis (5). As with emm genes of S. pyogenes, the emm homologs of groups C and G S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis are used for sequence-based typing (4,6,7), with >50 sequence types currently described (www.cdc.gov/ncidod/ biotech/ strep/emmtypes.htm). The aim of our study was to determine the clinical signs, epidemiologic characteristics, and emm types of S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis bacteremia during the 10-year observation period in Finland.

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Suggested Citation for this Article
Suggested citation for this article: Rantala S, Vähäkuopus S, Vuopio-Varkila J, Vuento R, Syrjänen J. Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis bacteremia, Finland, 1995–2004. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2010 May [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/16/5/843.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1605.080803