Koliou Maria, Vassiliadou Gavriella Ioannou, Aristidou Athina, Ladas Petros, Sergis Andreas, Argyrou Maria, Charalambous Myria, Marcou Markella, Alexandrou Maria, Coelho Juliana, Ryan Yan, Efstratiou Androulla, Mazeri Stella
Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 2115, Cyprus.
Archbishop Makarios Hospital, Nicosia 2012, Cyprus.
Microorganisms. 2025 Jul 31;13(8):1783. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13081783.
An increase in invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) infections among children under 15 years of age was reported in several countries between late 2022 and early 2023. This retrospective study aims to describe the epidemiology and clinical features of iGAS infections in children in Cyprus during the same period. Medical records of patients under 16 years old admitted with iGAS infection to the Archbishop Makarios Hospital, the only tertiary paediatric referral centre in Cyprus, between 1 January 2021 and 30 June 2024, were reviewed. Twenty-two cases were identified, of which twenty were classified as confirmed and two as probable. Half of the cases occurred in children aged 0-4 years, and 59% were recorded between December 2022 and April 2023. Scarlet fever was diagnosed in six children, five of whom developed pneumonia and empyema. Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) was observed in five patients, resulting in two deaths and one case requiring prolonged extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). The overall case fatality rate was 9.1%. 1, belonging to the M1UK clone, was the predominant strain (66.6%). The findings underscore the severity of iGAS infections, particularly in younger children, and highlight the importance of timely diagnosis, appropriate management and continued epidemiological surveillance.
2022年末至2023年初，多个国家报告15岁以下儿童侵袭性A组链球菌（iGAS）感染有所增加。这项回顾性研究旨在描述同一时期塞浦路斯儿童iGAS感染的流行病学和临床特征。对2021年1月1日至2024年6月30日期间因iGAS感染入住塞浦路斯唯一的三级儿科转诊中心——马卡里奥斯大主教医院的16岁以下患者的病历进行了审查。共确定22例病例，其中20例被归类为确诊病例，2例为疑似病例。一半的病例发生在0至4岁的儿童中，59%的病例记录于2022年12月至2023年4月之间。6名儿童被诊断为猩红热，其中5名发展为肺炎和脓胸。5名患者出现链球菌中毒性休克综合征（STSS），导致2人死亡，1例需要长时间体外膜肺氧合（ECMO）治疗。总体病死率为9.1%。属于M1UK克隆的菌株1是主要菌株（66.6%）。这些发现强调了iGAS感染的严重性，尤其是在幼儿中，并突出了及时诊断、适当管理和持续流行病学监测的重要性。
