Bacteraemia in streptococcal infections of the throat

In two patients seen recently in North Yorkshire, systemic infection with Streptococcus pyogenes appeared to originate from the upper respiratory tract; such infection is now rarely reported from the more developed countries. A study was arranged to detect bacteraemia in patients with sore throat: of 343 patients tested 93 yielded beta-haemolytic streptococci from the respiratory tract, but streptococcal bacteraemia was detected in none. These results suggest that clinically unsuspected streptococcal bacteraemia is uncommon in such patients.