The purpose of our study was to determine the prevalence of macrolide resistance in 3,188 pharyngeal Streptococcus pyogenes isolates collected at the Institute of Public Health of Serbia during the period 2006-2008. The disk diffusion tests were used to determine the susceptibility of the isolates. Two hundred and sixteen S. pyogenes isolates (6.8%) were resistant to erythromycin, with 9 isolat...

A 78-year-old Japanese man was admitted to our hospital because of fever lasting for 4 days. His white blood cell count and C-reactive protein level were elevated and computed tomography of the chest showed bronchopneumonia in the right upper lobe of the lung. Streptococcus pyogenes was detected from sputum and blood culture samples on admission and administration of ampicillin/sulbactam was ef...

Streptococcus pyogenes appears to have become an uncommon cause of pneumonia. In view of the recent increase in S. pyogenes infections this situation is likely to change. An intravenous drug user presented with acute onset of fever and chills. At presentation pleuritic chest pain was a prominent symptom, and later he developed pulmonary abscesses and an empyema. The patient had a good response ...

Lethal necrotizing fasciitis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes is characterized by a paucity of neutrophils at the site of infection. Interleukin (IL)-8, which is important for neutrophil transmigration and activation, can be degraded by S. pyogenes. Blood isolates of S. pyogenes were better able to degrade human IL-8 than throat isolates. Degradation of IL-8 was the result of a single specific ...

Eighty percent (21 of 26) of macrolide-resistant Peptostreptococcus strains studied harbored the ermTR gene. This methyltransferase gene is also the most frequently found gene among macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B-resistant Streptococcus pyogenes strains. Transfer of the ermTR gene from Peptostreptococcus magnus to macrolide-susceptible S. pyogenes strains indicates that this resistance d...

Based on a consideration of the histopathology of nonbullous impetigo that shows localization of Streptococcus pyogenes to highly differentiated, subcorneal keratinocytes, we hypothesized that adherence of an impetigo strain of S. pyogenes would be promoted by terminal differentiation of keratinocytes. An assay was developed in which S. pyogenes adhered via pilus-like projections from the cell ...