Population Genomic Molecular Epidemiological Study of Macrolide-Resistant Streptococcus pyogenes in Iceland, 1995 to 2016: Identification of a Large Clonal Population with a pbp2x Mutation Conferring Reduced In Vitro β-Lactam Susceptibility

• Published in: Journal of Clinical Microbiology
• Main Authors: Southon, Sara B., Beres, Stephen B., Kachroo, Priyanka, Saavedra, Matthew Ojeda, Erlendsdóttir, Helga, Haraldsson, Gunnsteinn, Yerramilli, Prasanti, Pruitt, Layne, Zhu, Luchang, Musser, James M., Kristinsson, Karl G.
• Other Authors: Mellmann, Alexander, HHS | National Institutes of Health, Fondren Foundation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Society for Microbiology 2020
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jcm.00638-20; https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/JCM.00638-20

Resistance to macrolide antibiotics is a global concern in the treatment of Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus [GAS]) infections. In Iceland, since the detection of the first macrolide-resistant isolate in 1998, three epidemic waves of macrolide-resistant GAS infections have occurred, with peaks in 1999, 2004, and 2008. We conducted whole-genome sequencing of all 1,575 available GAS macrolide-resistant clinical isolates of all infection types collected at the national reference laboratory in Reykjavik, Iceland, from 1998 to 2016.