ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Throat culture for streptococcal pharyngitis is a gold standard to diagnose, but it may be misleading to interpret due to the carriers. The isolation rates of beta-hemolytic streptococci (BHS) and Streptococcus pyogenes in the school children in Chinju were investigated and compared with those of Kangwon, Chungnam and Seoul previously reported. METHODS: Throat cultures were taken from the healthy 476 elementary school children who had no symptoms or signs of upper respiratory tract infection in April 1995, and the beta-hemolytic streptococci were identified with bacitracin disk (0.04 U) and latex agglutination. RESULTS: One-hundred fifty-four (32.4%) yielded BHS and 88 (18.5%) had S. pyogenes. The serogrouping revealed 30 (6.7%) group G, 24 (5.0%) group C, 4 (0.8%) group B, and 8 (1.7%) non-group A,B,C,G respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The isolation rate of BHS in Chinju was significantly higher (p<0.001) than the results of Kangwon, Chungnam and Seoul. The identification of BHS was also different from the other areas. In addition to these bacteriologic investigation, the study should be followed whether these carriers were simple contact ones or suffered from asymptomatic infections, and the epidemiologic study using serotyping, such as M or T typing, is necessary.