RT Book, Section
A1 Schleiss, Mark R.
A1 Kaplan, Edward L.
A2 Rudolph, Colin D.
A2 Rudolph, Abraham M.
A2 Lister, George E.
A2 First, Lewis R.
A2 Gershon, Anne A.
SR Print(0)
ID 7028185
T1 Chapter 285. Streptococcus Group A Infections
T2 Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22e
YR 2011
FD 2011
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-149723-7
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=7028185
RD 2023/04/01
AB Streptococcus  pyogenes  infections  were  likely  responsible  for  the  apparent  scarlet  fever  epidemic  described  by  Hippocrates  in  the  5th  century  BC.  The  history  of  S  pyogenes  has  been  the  subject  of  a  comprehensive  review.1  The  first  modern  description  of  streptococcal  infection  was  the  demonstration  of  the  organism  in  patients  with  erysipelas  and  wound  infection  in  1874.  The  organism  was  designated  Streptococcus  pyogenes  by  Rosenbach  in  the  late  19th  century.  In  the  early  1930s,  Rebecca  Lancefield’s  classification  of  the  β-hemolytic  strains  into  characteristic  distinct  serogroups  led  to  the  recognition  that  serogroup  A  isolates  (S  pyogenes)  were  the  streptococcal  strains  most  commonly  responsible  for  pharyngitis  and  impetigo/pyoderma.  Streptococcus  pyogenes  is  one  of  the  most  important  infectious  agents  encountered  in  clinical  practice  causing  infections  of  the  upper  respiratory  tract  and  of  the  skin,  that  causes  a  variety  of  severe  systemic  infections,  including  toxic  shock  syndrome  and  life-threatening  skin  and  soft  tissue  infections.  Infection  with  this  pathogen  is  also  causally  linked  to  two  serious  nonsuppurative  complications,  acute  rheumatic  fever  and  acute  glomerulonephritis.