Variations of streptococcal infection in children
AbstractStreptococcal infection remains an urgent health problem.
The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical and laboratory manifestations of streptococcal infection caused by Streptococcus pyogenes in children.
Material and methods. A descriptive continuous retrospective clinical study was conducted using data from the Unified Medical Information and Analytical System for Moscow for the period from January 2021 to June 2023. The study included laboratory-confirmed cases of streptococcal infection. Statistical data processing was carried out using Excel 2013 and IBM SPSS 26.0 software.
Results and discussion. From 2021 to 2023, an increase in the incidence of streptococcal infections in children caused by S. pyogenes was recorded. The proportion of streptococcal tonsillitis increased from 27.7% in 2021 to 42% in 2023, while the proportion of scarlet fever cases decreased from 66.2 to 56.4% over the same period. The highest incidence was observed among children in the age group from 4 to 14 years, with a particularly high level in the subgroup of 7–14 years, where this figure was 46.8%. The study revealed an increase in cases of invasive infections caused by group A streptococcus, which was accompanied by an increase in cases of streptococcal sepsis and pneumonia in 2023.
Rare (low-prevalence) forms of streptococcal infection, such as erysipelas, accounted for 56.3% of the total number of reported cases in this age group. Acute rheumatic fever took the second place in prevalence, amounting to 23.7%, with the highest proportion recorded in 2021, but its subsequent decline was also observed. A retrospective analysis of hospitalized patients at MMCC Kommunarka with a diagnosis of erysipelas showed that facial erysipelas was more common in older children, whereas erysipelas of the extremities was more common among younger children (p-value=0.014). The study did not identify risk factors specific to adults, which should be taken into account when diagnosing erysipelas in children.
Conclusion. The results of this study emphasize the need to control the incidence of streptococcal infections and further monitor them among the child population.
Keywords: group A Streptococci; erysipelas; children
Funding. The study had no sponsor support.
Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Contribution. Research conception and design – Solodovnikova O.N., Protsenko D.N., Tyurin I.N., Gorelov A.V.; collection and processing of material – Pylaeva S.K., Ismail F.R, Khlypovka Yu.N.; statistical processing – Pylaeva S.K.; text writing – Pylaeva S.K., Ismail F.R.; editing – Erovichenkov A.A., Ishmukhametov A.A., Arutyunova D.D.
For citation: Solodovnikova O.N., Erovichenkov A.A., Pylaeva S.K., Ismail F.R., Arutunova D.D., Khlypovka Yu.N., Protsenko D.N., Tyurin I.N., Gorelov A.V., Ishmukhametov A.A. Variations of streptococcal infection in children. Infektsionnye bolezni: novosti, mneniya, obuchenie [Infectious Diseases: News, Opinions, Training]. 2024; 13 (4): 69–75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33029/2305-3496-2024-13-4-69-75 (in Russian)
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