Affiliations 

  • 1 MBBS, MSc, MRCPath, Associate Professor, National Streptococcus Reference Laboratory, Dept. of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 MBBS, MPH, Deputy Director, Department of Health, City Hall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 3 Drs (ITB), MPhil, Lecturer, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 4 Dip Med Lab Technology, National Streptococcus Reference Laboratory, Dept. of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Family Practitioner, 1986;9(1):38-39.

Abstract

Pharyngeal carriage of group A streptococcus was determined in 432 primary school children between the ages of 6 and 8 years. Beta-haemolytic streptococci were isolated from throat swab culture of 71 pupils, with a carrier rate of 16.4% (71/432) of which 9.4% (39/432) belonged to Lancefield's group A. Serogrouping of the isolates was determined by the coagglutination method and Lancefield's hot acid extraction method. 54.9% (39/71) of the total beta-hemolytic streptococci isolated belonged to group A , 25.3% (18/71) to group G, 15.4% (11/71) to group C and 1.4%(1/71) to group F. T typing pattern of group A streptococcus was determined by the standard agglutination method. Sensitivity to antibiotics was determined by the disc diffusion technique (comparative method). All group A streptococcal isolates were sensitive to penicillin and erythromycin, 6 strains (15.4%) were resistant to tetracycline and 1 strain (2.5%) was resistant to cephaloridine.