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Article: Outbreak among drug users caused by a clonal strain of group A streptococcus.
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- March 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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We describe an outbreak among drug users of severe soft-tissue infections caused by a clonal strain of group A streptococcus of M-type 25. Cases (n = 19) in drug users were defined as infections (mainly needle abscesses) due to the outbreak strain. Comparison with controls showed that infected drug users bought drugs more often at a specific place. Drug purchase and use habits may have contributed to this outbreak.
In the 1980s, reemergence of severe group A streptococcus (GAS) infections, especially toxic shock syndrome, necrotizing fasciitis, and bacteremia associated with high death rates, was observed (1,2). Temporal and geographic clustering of cases with severe ...