The carriage of potentially pathogenic β-haemolytic streptococci (β-HS) in healthy adult inhabitants of Wielkopolska, Poland

Abstract

Background. acute pharyngitis is a common disease in primary health care patients. Beta-hemolytic streptococci (β-hs) are a frequent etiological agent, while swab culture from the throat and palatine tonsils is the gold standard for diagnosis. Objectives. The evaluation of the prevalence of potentially pathogenic β-hs carriage in young adult inhabitants of wielkopolska, Poland. Material and methods. The study included 205 healthy young adult (18-44 years old) (29.0 ± 6.4) inhabitants (M -95, F -110) of wielkopolska, Poland. Two swabs were taken from the throat: the first one was used to perform a rapid antigenic diagnostic test (radT) for group a streptococci (gas) and the second to grow a conventional culture. if β-hs grew, isolates were serotyped according to lancefield. in addition, simple demographic and medical data were collected from the subjects. The study was financed from funds granted within the first edition of the "give a hand" project (karol Marcinkowski Poznan University of Medical sciences). Results. Positive throat cultures were obtained in 15.6% out of 205 persons (n = 32). The distribution of β-hs serogroup results was as follows: group c (gcs) -17 cases (53.1% of cases where β-hs growth was positive), group F (gFs) -9 cases (28.1%), gas -3 people (9.4%) and group g (ggs) -3 subjects (9.4%). The growth of the discussed bacteria in cultures was moderate or high in 53% of these cases. radT was positive in 5 cases (but only one person had gas in throat culture). The positive culture result was significantly more frequent in men (62.5% out of 32 cases with β-hs growth, p = 0.0460). Conclusions. 1. The possibility of β-hs carriage must be taken into account when analysing the results of throat swab cultures. 2. gas carriage is significantly lower than non-gas carriage. 3. gcs were the most prevalent among non-gas. 4. Being male may predispose individuals to β-hs carriage. Key words: culture, streptococci, carriage, lancefield, radT, pharyngitis.

The Rate of Asymptomatic Throat Carriage of Streptococcus Pyogenes and Its Associated Risk Factors Among Medical Students of Queen Arwa University in Sana’a City, Yemen

“…However, our findings were in disagreement with the results of a previous study in which the prevalence rate of S. pyogenes carriage among adults was reported at 2-46% in Turkey [8], 9.6% in Philadelphia [9], 15.6% in young adult inhabitants of Wielkopolska, Poland [10], EJUA-BA | September 2023 between 11.2 and 34% in India [11], 3.6% among pharmacy students at a university in Cyprus [5], 16.9% in Kabul university [12], and 63% among the health community in Australia [20].…”

“…According to previous studies conducted among adult students in some countries, the prevalence rate of S. pyogenes throat carriage was reported at 2-46% in Turkey [8], 9.6% in Philadelphia [9], 15.6% in Poland [10], 11.2-34% in India [11], 3.6% in Cyprus [5], and 16.9% in Kabul University [12].…”

The Rate of Asymptomatic Throat Carriage of Streptococcus pyogenes and its Associated Risk Factors among Medical Students of Queen Arwa University in Sana’a City, Yemen

“…However, our ndings were in disagreement with the results of a previous study in which the prevalence rate of S. pyogenes carriage among adults was reported at 2-46% in Turkey [8], 9.6% in Philadelphia [9], 15.6% in young adult inhabitants of Wielkopolska, Poland [10], between 11.2 to 34% in India [11], 3.6% among pharmacy students in a university in Cyprus [5], 16.9% in Kabul university [12], and 63% among health community in Australia [20].…”

“…In the present result, the high rate of S. pyogenes carriage was observed among the age group of 25-30 years old (8.3%) and the lower was among 18-24 years (1.1%) with a signi cant difference (P = 0.008). In a study performed in Poland on 205 healthy adults between 18 and 44 years old, only three (1.5%) adults were reported to carry GAS [10]. Also, Levy et al [9] reported the asymptomatic carriage rate of GAS as 9.6% among students aged 18-27 years.…”

Moderate and severe pharyngitis in young adult inhabitants of Poznan, western Poland

“…First, it is not possible to definitely determine the actual connection between the presence of β-hs (in this age group, non-gas much more often than gas are responsible for the carrier state in patients) and its role in causing the symptoms of pharyngitis in the case of a particular patient or viral superinfection as the source of the condition in the case of the carrier of these bacteria [17]. second, cases of pharyngitis with non-gas etiology are usually self--limited, and complications -although possible -are infrequent in the descriptions of the disease [8].…”