Group A Streptococcal Bacteremia: Ten Years' Experience from a Tertiary Care Center in South India

Bacteremia is an uncommon complication of group A streptococcal (GAS) infections. The data on GAS bacteremia is scarce from developing nations such as India.

We performed a retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with GAS bacteremia in a tertiary care hospital in Kerala, India over a 10-year period (2012-2021) by review of the electronic medical records (EMRs).

A total of 58 cases of GAS bacteremia were identified in the study period. Skin/soft tissue infection was the most common source of bacteremia. A total of 34.4% of the patients required ICU admission and the in-hospital mortality was 22.4%. All the GAS isolates were sensitive to penicillin, ampicillin, and ceftriaxone. Erythromycin and clindamycin resistance was seen in 39.7% and 24.1% isolates, respectively.

This study shows that despite advancement in medical sciences, GAS bacteremia remains as a disease with high morbidity and mortality. A higher rate of clindamycin resistance was observed compared to previous Indian studies.

Jayakumar JS, Niyas VKM, Arjun R. Group A Streptococcal Bacteremia: Ten Years' Experience from a Tertiary Care Center in South India. Indian J Crit Care Med 2022;26(9):1019-1021.