This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Smoot, J. C.
Right arrow Articles by Musser, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Smoot, J. C.
Right arrow Articles by Musser, J. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2002, p. 1805-1810, Vol. 40, No. 5
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.5.1805-1810.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Analysis of Group A Streptococcus Type emm18 Isolates Temporally Associated with Acute Rheumatic Fever Outbreaks in Salt Lake City, Utah

James C. Smoot,1 E. Kent Korgenski,2 Judy A. Daly,2 L. George Veasy,2 and James M. Musser1*

Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840,1 Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 841232

Received 17 October 2001/ Returned for modification 3 December 2001/ Accepted 10 January 2002

Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and subsequent rheumatic heart disease are rare but serious sequelae of group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections in most western countries. Salt Lake City (SLC), Utah, and the surrounding intermountain region experienced a resurgence of ARF in 1985 which has persisted. The largest numbers of cases were encountered in 1985-1986 and in 1997-1998. Organisms with a mucoid colony phenotype when grown on blood agar plates were temporally associated with the higher incidence of ARF. To develop an understanding of the molecular population genetic structure of GAS strains associated with ARF in the SLC region, 964 mucoid and nonmucoid pharyngeal isolates recovered in SLC from 1984 to 1999 were studied by sequencing the emm gene. Isolates with an emm18 allele were further characterized by sequencing the spa, covR, and covS genes. Peak periods of ARF were associated with GAS isolates possessing an emm18 allele encoding the protein found in serotype M18 isolates. Among the serotype M18 isolates, the difference in the number of C repeats produced three size variants. Variation was limited in spa, a gene that encodes a streptococcal protective antigen, and covR and covS, genes that encode a two-component regulatory system that, when inactivated, results in a mucoid phenotype and enhanced virulence in mouse infection models. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed a single restriction profile for serotype M18 organisms isolated during both peak periods of ARF. In SLC, the incidence of ARF coresurged with the occurrence of GAS serotype M18 isolates that have very restricted genetic variation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 903 South 4th St., Hamilton, MT 59840. Phone: (406) 363-9315. Fax: (406) 363-9427. E-mail: jmusser{at}niaid.nih.gov.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2002, p. 1805-1810, Vol. 40, No. 5
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.5.1805-1810.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Bryant, P. A., Robins-Browne, R., Carapetis, J. R., Curtis, N. (2009). Some of the People, Some of the Time: Susceptibility to Acute Rheumatic Fever. Circulation 119: 742-753 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Musser, J. M., DeLeo, F. R. (2005). Toward a Genome-Wide Systems Biology Analysis of Host-Pathogen Interactions in Group A Streptococcus. Am. J. Pathol. 167: 1461-1472 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Green, N. M., Beres, S. B., Graviss, E. A., Allison, J. E., McGeer, A. J., Vuopio-Varkila, J., LeFebvre, R. B., Musser, J. M. (2005). Genetic Diversity among Type emm28 Group A Streptococcus Strains Causing Invasive Infections and Pharyngitis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 4083-4091 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mayon-White, R. (2005). Re-emerging infections: Part 4: Respiratory infections. British Journal of Infection Control 6: 13-15 [Abstract]  
  • Chiou, C.-S., Liao, T.-L., Wang, T.-H., Chang, H.-L., Liao, J.-C., Li, C.-C. (2004). Epidemiology and Molecular Characterization of Streptococcus pyogenes Recovered from Scarlet Fever Patients in Central Taiwan from 1996 to 1999. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 3998-4006 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Veasy, L. G., Tani, L. Y., Daly, J. A., Korgenski, K., Miner, L., Bale, J., Kaplan, E. L., Musser, J. M., Hill, H. R. (2004). Temporal Association of the Appearance of Mucoid Strains of Streptococcus Pyogenes With a Continuing High Incidence of Rheumatic Fever in Utah. Pediatrics 113: e168-172 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Smoot, L. M., McCormick, J. K., Smoot, J. C., Hoe, N. P., Strickland, I., Cole, R. L., Barbian, K. D., Earhart, C. A., Ohlendorf, D. H., Veasy, L. G., Hill, H. R., Leung, D. Y. M., Schlievert, P. M., Musser, J. M. (2002). Characterization of Two Novel Pyrogenic Toxin Superantigens Made by an Acute Rheumatic Fever Clone of Streptococcus pyogenes Associated with Multiple Disease Outbreaks. Infect. Immun. 70: 7095-7104 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Beres, S. B., Sylva, G. L., Barbian, K. D., Lei, B., Hoff, J. S., Mammarella, N. D., Liu, M.-Y., Smoot, J. C., Porcella, S. F., Parkins, L. D., Campbell, D. S., Smith, T. M., McCormick, J. K., Leung, D. Y. M., Schlievert, P. M., Musser, J. M. (2002). Genome sequence of a serotype M3 strain of group A Streptococcus: Phage-encoded toxins, the high-virulence phenotype, and clone emergence. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 10078-10083 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»