A community outbreak of conjunctivitis caused by nontypeable Streptococcus pneumoniae in Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) was notified of an outbreak of conjunctivitis in city A with cultures positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae.

MDH staff contacted clinics and schools in city A and city B regarding conjunctivitis cases, reviewed clinical findings of conjunctivitis cases in city A and collected isolates for subtyping.

Between September 1 and December 12, 2003, cities A and B reported 735 conjunctivitis cases. Fifty-one percent of the cases were reported from schools, childcare centers and colleges. Adults were more likely to report itching, burning or swelling of the eye(s); children were more likely to report crusty eyes (P < 0.05). Forty-nine percent of conjunctival cultures (71 of 144) were positive for S. pneumoniae. All isolates were nontypeable by serotyping. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis identified 3 clonal groups with 84% of isolates belonging to one clonal group. Multilocus sequence typing revealed that isolates had the same multilocus sequence type as isolates from a 2002 outbreak at a New England college.

This outbreak was widespread in the community and conjunctivitis clinical presentation varied by age. The predominant strains in this outbreak were related to a pneumococcal strain implicated in prior conjunctivitis outbreaks, suggesting these strains have a predilection for causing conjunctivitis.