Increased incidence of invasive group A streptococcal infections in Sweden, January 2012–February 2013

J Darenberg; B Henriques-Normark; T Lepp; K Tegmark-Wisell; A Tegnell; K Widgren

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.14.20443

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Increased incidence of invasive group A streptococcal infections in Sweden, January 2012–February 2013
J Darenberg¹ , B Henriques-Normark^1,2,3 , T Lepp¹ , K Tegmark-Wisell¹ , A Tegnell¹ , K Widgren¹
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Affiliations: ¹ Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control (SMI), Solna, Sweden ² Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden ³ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Correspondence:
J Darenberg
Jessica.Darenberg smi.se
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Citation style for this article: Darenberg J, Henriques-Normark B, Lepp T, Tegmark-Wisell K, Tegnell A, Widgren K. Increased incidence of invasive group A streptococcal infections in Sweden, January 2012–February 2013. Euro Surveill. 2013;18(14):pii=20443. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.14.20443 Received: 20 Mar 2013

Abstract

The incidence of invasive group A streptococcal infections in Sweden was 6.1 per 100,000 population in 2012, the highest since the disease became notifiable in 2004. Furthermore, January and February 2013 marked a dramatic increase of cases notified, partly explainable by an increase of emm1/T1 isolates, a type previously shown to cause severe invasive disease more often than other types. Healthcare providers in Sweden and health authorities in neighbouring countries have been informed about this increase.