Prevalent emm Types among Invasive GAS in Europe and North America since Year 2000.

Giovanni Gherardi,Luca Agostino Vitali,Roberta Creti

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2018.00059

Giovanni Gherardi, Luca Agostino Vitali + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00059

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Abstract

Streptococcus pyogenes or group A streptococcus (GAS) is an important human pathogen responsible for a broad range of infections, from uncomplicated to more severe and invasive diseases with high mortality and morbidity. Epidemiological surveillance has been crucial to detect changes in the geographical and temporal variation of the disease pattern; for this purpose the M protein gene (emm) gene typing is the most widely used genotyping method, with more than 200 emm types recognized. Molecular epidemiological data have been also used for the development of GAS M protein-based vaccines. The aim of this paper was to provide an updated scenario of the most prevalent GAS emm types responsible for invasive infections in developed countries as Europe and North America (US and Canada), from 1st January 2000 to 31st May 2017. The search, performed in PubMed by the combined use of the terms ("emm") and ("invasive") retrieved 264 articles, of which 38 articles (31 from Europe and 7 from North America) met the inclusion criteria and were selected for this study. Additional five papers cited in the European articles but not retrieved by the search were included. emm1 represented the dominant type in both Europe and North America, replaced by other emm types in only few occasions. The seven major emm types identified (emm1, emm28, emm89, emm3, emm12, emm4, and emm6) accounted for approximately 50-70% of the total isolates; less common emm types accounted for the remaining 30-50% of the cases. Most of the common emm types are included in either one or both the 26-valent and 30-valent vaccines, though some well-represented emm types found in Europe are not. This study provided a picture of the prevalent emm types among invasive GAS (iGAS) in Europe and North America since the year 2000 onward. Continuous surveillance on the emm-type distribution among iGAS infections is strongly encouraged also to determine the potential coverage of the developing multivalent vaccines.

Highlights

Streptococcus pyogenes or group A streptococcus (GAS) is a human Gram-positive bacterial species that either can exist as commensal or can be responsible for a broad range of infections, ranging from uncomplicated throat and skin infections to more severe and invasive diseases, such as bacteremia, soft tissue infections, necrotizing fasciitis, and septic shock; it represents, on a global scale, an important cause of morbidity and mortality [1]
The present review aimed to provide a picture of the emm-type distribution among invasive GAS strains in high-income countries of the Western world, such as Europe and North America, retrieved from the literature since the year 2000
Besides the 28 European Union (EU) countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland were included in the search

Summary

Introduction

Streptococcus pyogenes or group A streptococcus (GAS) is a human Gram-positive bacterial species that either can exist as commensal or can be responsible for a broad range of infections, ranging from uncomplicated throat and skin infections to more severe and invasive diseases, such as bacteremia, soft tissue infections, necrotizing fasciitis, and septic shock; it represents, on a global scale, an important cause of morbidity and mortality [1]. DNA molecular typing techniques that consider multiple genome markers have been used for GAS genotyping, such as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis [9] and multi locus sequence typing [10]. These methodologies have proved to be of particular importance to define the clonal structure of particular GAS populations [11]. Epidemiological surveillance has been crucial to detect changes in the geographical and temporal variation of the disease pattern; for this purpose the M protein gene (emm) gene typing is the most widely used genotyping method, with more than 200 emm types recognized. Molecular epidemiological data have been used for the development of GAS M protein-based vaccines

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