Chapter 130. Streptococcal and Enterococcal Infections Many varieties of streptococci are found as part of the normal flora colonizing the human respiratory, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary tracts. Several species are important causes of human disease. Group A Streptococcus (GAS, S. pyogenes) is responsible for streptococcal pharyngitis, one of the most common bacterial infections of school -age children, and for the postinfectious syndromes of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN). Group B Streptococcus (GBS, S. agalactiae) is the leading cause of bacterial sepsis and meningitis in newborns and a major cause of endometritis and fever in parturient women. Enterococci are important causes of urinary tract infection, nosocomial bacteremia, and endocarditis. Viridans streptococci are the most common cause of bacterial endocarditis. Streptococci are gram-positive, spherical to ovoid bacteria that characteristically form chains when grown in liquid media. Most streptococci that cause human infections are facultative anaerobes, although some are strict anaerobes. Streptococci are relatively fastidious organisms, requiring enriched media for growth in the laboratory. Clinicians and clinical microbiologists identify streptococci by several classification systems, including hemolytic pattern, Lancefield group, species name, and common or trivial name. Many streptococci associated with human infection produce a zone of complete (β) hemolysis around the bacterial colony when cultured on blood agar. The β-hemolytic streptococci can be classified by the Lancefield system, a serologic grouping based on the reaction of specific antisera with bacterial cell-wall carbohydrate antigens. With rare exceptions, organisms belonging to Lancefield groups A, B, C, and G are all β-hemolytic, and each is associated with characteristic patterns of human infection. Other streptococci produce a zone of partial (α) hemolysis, often imparting a greenish appearance to the agar. These α-hemolytic streptococci are further identified by biochemical testing and include S. pneumoniae (Chap. 128), an important cause of pneumonia, meningitis, and other infections, and several species referred to collectively as the viridans streptococci, which are part of the normal oral flora and are important agents of subacute bacterial endocarditis. Finally, some streptococci are nonhemolytic, a pattern sometimes called γhemolysis. The classification of the major streptococcal groups causing human infections is outlined in Table 130-1. Among the organisms classified serologically as group D streptococci, the enterococci are now considered a separate genus on the basis of DNA homology studies. Thus species previously designated as S. faecalis and S. faecium have been renamed Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium, respectively.Table 130-1 Classification of Streptococci Lancefield Group Representative Hemolytic Typical Species Pattern Infections β A S. pyogenes Pharyngitis, impetigo, cellulitis, scarlet fever β B S. agalactiae Neonatal sepsis and meningitis, puerperal infection, urinary tract infection, diabetic ulcer infection, endocarditis β C, G S. dysgalactiae Cellulitis, subsp. bacteremia, equisimilis endocarditis D Enterococci: E. Usually Urinary tract faecalis; E. nonhemolytic infection, faecium nosocomial bacteremia, endocarditis Nonenterococci: S. Usually Bacteremia, bovis nonhemolytic endocarditis α Variable or Viridans Endocarditis, nongroupable streptococci: S. dental abscess, sanguis; S. mitis brain abscess Intermedius or milleri Variable Brain abscess, group: S. intermedius, visceral S. anginosus, S. abscess constellatus Anaerobic Usually Sinusitis, streptococci: nonhemolytic pneumonia, Peptostreptococcus empyema, magnus brain abscess, liver abscess Group A Streptococci Lancefield's group A consists of a single species, S. pyogenes. As its species name implies, this organism is associated with a variety of suppurative infections. In addition, GAS can trigger the postinfectious syndromes of ARF (which is uniquely associated with S. pyogenes infection; Chap. 315) and PSGN (Chap. 277).W orldwide, GAS infections and their postinfectious sequelae (primarily ARF and rheumatic heart disease) account for an estimated 500,000 deaths per year. Although data are incomplete, the incidence of all forms of GAS infection and that of rheumatic heart disease are thought to be tenfold higher in resource-limited countries than in developed countries (Fig. 130-1). Figure 130-1 Prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in children 5–14 years old. The circles within Australia and New Zealand represent indigenous populations (and also Pacific Islanders in New Zealand). (From Carapetis et al, 2005, with permission.) Pathogenesis GAS elaborates a number of cell-surface components and extracellular products important in both the pathogenesis of infection and the human immune response. The cell wall contains a carbohydrate antigen
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