Sustained increase of paediatric invasive infections dominated by M1 and diverse 12 isolates, Portugal, September 2022 to May 2023.
Catarina Gouveia, Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado, Rafael Mamede, Ana Araújo Carvalho, Fernanda Rodrigues, José Melo-Cristino, Mario Ramirez, Ana Friães, Portuguese Group for the Study of Streptococcal Infections, Portuguese Study Group of Pediatric Invasive Streptococcal Disease, Portuguese Study Group of Paediatric Invasive Streptococcal Disease
Author Information
Catarina Gouveia: Infectious Diseases Unit, Pediatric Department, Hospital de Dona Estefânia, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Central, Lisbon, Portugal.
Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado: Laboratório Nacional de Referência a Infeções Respiratórias a Agentes Bacterianos, Departamento de Doenças Infeciosas, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal.
Rafael Mamede: Instituto de Microbiologia, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Ana Araújo Carvalho: Infectious Diseases Unit, Pediatric Department, Hospital de Dona Estefânia, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Central, Lisbon, Portugal.
Fernanda Rodrigues: Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
José Melo-Cristino: Instituto de Microbiologia, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Mario Ramirez: Instituto de Microbiologia, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Ana Friães: Instituto de Microbiologia, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
: The members of the networks are listed under Collaborators.
: The members of the networks are listed under Collaborators.
Since autumn 2022, observed numbers of paediatric invasive group A infections in Portugal (n = 89) were higher than in pre-COVID-19 seasons. Between September 2022 and May 2023, the dominant diagnoses were pneumonia (25/79), mostly with empyema (20/25), and sepsis (22/79). A number of cases required admission to intensive care (27/79) and surgery (35/79), and the case fatality rate was 5.1% (4/79). Genomic sequencing (n = 55) revealed multiple genetic lineages, dominated by the M1 sublineage (26/55) and more diverse 12 isolates (12/55).
