Are Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infections Preventable by Antibiotic Therapy? A Collaborative Retrospective Study

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Rahel Erlacher - , University Children's Hospital in Basel (Author)
  • Nicole Toepfner - , Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Svenja Dressen - , Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Reinhard Berner - , Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Annemarie Bösch - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Tobias Tenenbaum - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Ulrich Heininger - , University Children's Hospital in Basel (Author)

Abstract

Background: In winter 2022/2023, a resurgence of invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) infections in children was observed in Europe, including Germany and Switzerland. While a simultaneous increase in consultations for scarlet fever and pharyngitis was reported in England, leading to the recommendation to treat any suspected GAS disease with antibiotics, guidelines in Germany and Switzerland remained unchanged. We aimed to investigate whether this policy was appropriate. Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicenter study of children hospitalized for invasive GAS disease between September 2022 and March 2023 in pediatric departments in Dresden and Berlin (Germany) and Basel (Switzerland). We reviewed medical records and conducted structured telephone interviews to analyze whether suspected GAS infections with or without antibiotic treatment were reported prehospitalization. Results: In total, 63 patients met the inclusion criteria (median age 4.2 years, 57% males); however, clinical information was not complete for all analyzed characteristics; 32/54 (59%) had ≥1 physician visit ≤4 weeks prehospitalization. In 4/32 (13%) patients, GAS disease, that is, tonsillitis or scarlet fever, was suspected; 2/4 of them received antibiotics, and a positive rapid antigen test for GAS was documented in 1 of them. Conclusions: A small minority of patients had suspected GAS infection within 4 weeks before iGAS disease. These data suggest that there is little opportunity to prevent iGAS disease by antibiotic therapy, because in most patients - even if seen by a physician - there was either no evidence of GAS disease or when GAS disease was suspected and treated with antibiotics, consecutive invasive GAS disease was not prevented.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)931-935
Number of pages5
JournalPediatric Infectious Disease Journal
Volume43
Issue number10
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 38830130

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • antibiotics, children, group A streptococcus, invasive