Abstract
A molecular technique (random amplification of polymorphic DNA) was used to characterize group A streptococcal (GAS) strains among 194 isolates from 55 swabs from 12 Australian Aboriginal children and adults with multiple pyoderma lesions. Ninety-three percent of the lesions contained only one strain of GAS, but 8 of 12 individuals were infected with more than one strain. We conclude that accurate epidemiologic surveys require that more than one swab specimen be obtained from each person, whereas typing of more than one colony per swab is less informative. Characterization of GAS strains by random amplification of polymorphic DNA analysis should help to provide important insights into the epidemiology of GAS, particularly in tropical populations where many isolates are M nontypeable, and into the mechanisms of genetic variation of GAS in such populations.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (172.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Allen A. M., Taplin D. Skin infections in eastern Panama. Survey of two representative communities. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1974 Sep;23(5):950–956. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1974.23.950. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bessen D. E., Hollingshead S. K. Allelic polymorphism of emm loci provides evidence for horizontal gene spread in group A streptococci. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994 Apr 12;91(8):3280–3284. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.8.3280. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Currie B. Medicine in tropical Australia. Med J Aust. 1993 May 3;158(9):609, 612-5. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1993.tb137630.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Haase A. M., Melder A., Mathews J. D., Kemp D. J., Adams M. Clonal diversity of Streptococcus pyogenes within some M-types revealed by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis. Epidemiol Infect. 1994 Dec;113(3):455–462. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800068461. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kaplan E. L., Johnson D. R., Nanthapisud P., Sirilertpanrana S., Chumdermpadetsuk S. A comparison of group A streptococcal serotypes isolated from the upper respiratory tract in the USA and Thailand: implications. Bull World Health Organ. 1992;70(4):433–437. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Parker M. T., Bassett D. C., Maxted W. R., Arneaud J. D. Acute glomerulonephritis in Trinidad: serological typing of group A streptococci. J Hyg (Lond) 1968 Dec;66(4):657–675. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400028394. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Poon-King T., Mohammed I., Cox R., Potter E. V., Simon N. M., Siegel A. C., Earle D. P. Recurrent epidemic nephritis in South Trinidad. N Engl J Med. 1967 Oct 5;277(14):728–733. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196710052771403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Relf W. A., Martin D. R., Sriprakash K. S. Identification of sequence types among the M-nontypeable group A streptococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Dec;30(12):3190–3194. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.12.3190-3194.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Seppälä H., He Q., Osterblad M., Huovinen P. Typing of group A streptococci by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Aug;32(8):1945–1948. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.8.1945-1948.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taplin D., Lansdell L., Allen A. M., Rodriguez R., Cortes A. Prevalence of streptococcal pyoderma in relation to climate and hygiene. Lancet. 1973 Mar 10;1(7802):501–503. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(73)90324-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tran P. O., Johnson D. R., Kaplan E. L. The presence of M protein in nontypeable group A streptococcal upper respiratory tract isolates from Southeast Asia. J Infect Dis. 1994 Mar;169(3):658–661. doi: 10.1093/infdis/169.3.658. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Van Buynder P. G., Gaggin J. A., Martin D., Pugsley D., Mathews J. D. Streptococcal infection and renal disease markers in Australian aboriginal children. Med J Aust. 1992 Apr 20;156(8):537–540. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1992.tb121414.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wang G., Whittam T. S., Berg C. M., Berg D. E. RAPD (arbitrary primer) PCR is more sensitive than multilocus enzyme electrophoresis for distinguishing related bacterial strains. Nucleic Acids Res. 1993 Dec 25;21(25):5930–5933. doi: 10.1093/nar/21.25.5930. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]