Streptococcal pyoderma and acute nephritis in Trinidad

ABSTRACT

Following the major epidemic of acute glomeronephritis in Trinidad in 1964 and 1965, streptococcal skin infection was studied among school children. Infection was found on 1.5 percent of the children in an urban school. Simultaneous infections with more than one strain of Streptococcus pyogenes were found in some children, and also the replacement of one strain by another between weekly swabbings. Skin infection was more prevalent at a rural school (15 percent). In a year-long study the frequency of infection was found to be related to poverty, and to age and sex, diminishing with increasing age more rapidly in females than in males. The average for the school was one new streptococcal infection per child per 10 weeks. Spread was usually from skin to skin, possibly assisted by non-biting Hippelates flies; involvement of nose or throat was commonly secondary to skin infection (Summary)