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Franklin R. Cockerill III, MD
Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minn

Kristine L. MacDonald, MD, MPH; Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH
Minnesota Department of Health Minneapolis

JAMA. 1997;277(15):1204.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.

—In our study, we reported that a highly virulent group A streptococcal clone (PFGE-1) caused multiple cases of invasive streptococcal disease in a small community from January through March 1995. Fifty-nine (32%) of 187 children attending the only elementary school in this community carried group A streptococcus organisms in their throats, and in 46 (78%) of the 59 carriers, the PFGE-1 clone was isolated. All 59 children who carried group A streptococcus were offered antimicrobial therapy, and all were treated. No additional cases of invasive disease caused by the PFGE-1 clone occurred in this community at the conclusion of this intervention. However, no follow-up pharyngeal cultures were performed to determine whether the prevalence of the PFGE-1 among these carriers decreased following antimicrobial therapy.

Even if one assumes an eradication rate among the PFGE-1 streptococcal carriers in our study similar to that reported by Drs Perry and Maher (83%), other factors . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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