Pharyngeal Colonization by Transmission, and Pathogenesis of Invasive Infections: A Narrative Review.

With the appreciation of as a prime etiology of osteoarticular infections in young children, there is an increasing interest in the pathogenesis of these diseases. The medical literature on 's colonization and carriage was thoroughly reviewed. colonizes the oropharynx after the second life semester, and its prevalence reaches 10% between the ages of 12 and 24 months, declining thereafter as children reach immunological maturity. colonization is characterized by the periodic substitution of carried organisms by new strains. Whereas some strains frequently colonize asymptomatic children but are rarely isolated from diseased individuals, others are responsible for most invasive infections worldwide, indicating enhanced virulence. The colonized oropharyngeal mucosa is the source of child-to-child transmission, and daycare attendance is associated with a high carriage rate and increased risk of invasive disease. elaborates a potent repeat-in-toxin (RTXA) that lyses epithelial, phagocytic, and synovial cells. This toxin breaches the epithelial barrier, facilitating bloodstream invasion and survival and the colonization of deep body tissues. colonization and carriage play a crucial role in the person-to-person transmission of the bacterium, its dissemination in the community, and the pathogenesis of invasive infections.