Group A Streptococcal Infections

Group A hemolytic streptococci cause over a dozen diseases, including some pneumonias, erysipelas (a generalized body infection), upper respiratory infections, wound infections, and puerperal fever. Scarlet fever is also a streptococcal, or strep, infection; the rash is a response to a toxin produced by the bacteria that cause strep throat. Rheumatic fever follows an initial Group A streptococcal infection: proteins of the streptococcal cells stimulate antibody formation by the body (see immunity), and these antistreptococcal antibodies are believed to react with and damage many tissues of the body, especially heart muscle. Kidney disease (acute glomerulonephritis) is another complication of streptococcal infections. Some extremely serious Group A streptococcal infections began to emerge or reemerge in the late 1980s. Toxic streptococcal syndrome was first described in 1987. It is a rapidly progressing infection, similar to septicemia, that usually infects people in their 20s or 30s. Necrotizing fasciitis is a quickly spreading infection of the flesh and muscle caused by toxins released by a strain of Group A streptococcal bacteria that have been invaded by bacteriophages. Such bacteria are popularly called “flesh-eating bacteria.”

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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