Epidemiology of Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infection in Children and its Association With Community…

Cohort studyThe Pediatric infectious disease journal· Aug 2026

Epidemiology of Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infection in Children and its Association With Community Circulation of Scarlet Fever and Respiratory Viral Infections.

Victòria Rello-Saltor, Violeta Fàbregas, Víctor L de Rioja … COPEDICAT Network

Pediatric Infection & VaccinationCohort studyQ1IF 1.7

Pediatric invasive group A strep infections strongly correlated with influenza A/B circulation.

Epidemiology of Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infection in Children and its Association With Community Circulation of Scarlet Fever and Respiratory Viral Infections.

Victòria Rello-Saltor … COPEDICAT Network

The Pediatric infectious disease journal · Aug 2026 · Q1 in Pediatrics

Background

Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus, GAS) is a common pediatric pathogen causing a wide range of diseases with significant morbidity and mortality.

Methods

This is a retrospective observational multicentric study of children (<15 years) with iGAS in Catalonia (Spain) from week 40 of 2022 to week 24 of 2023.

n = 135 pediatric iGAS cases

ρ = 0.85

Results

ρ = 0.85

iGAS cases rose and fell closely with flu circulation

n = 135 pediatric iGAS cases

More results

Among 135 pediatric iGAS cases, the median age was 3.7 years (interquartile range, 1.6-5.9), mostly healthy.

Fever was the most common symptom (92.6%), and pneumonia was the most prevalent diagnosis (40.7%).

Viral coinfection occurred in 59.3% of the cases, with influenza A/B being the most prevalent.

More results

One-third (35.6%) required intensive care; the case fatality rate was 3.0%.

“

Conclusion

Pediatric iGAS during the 2022-2023 outbreak was strongly associated with influenza activity, suggesting that influenza might contribute to the epidemiology of pediatric iGAS in a context of increased GAS circulation.

Epidemiology of Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infection in Children and its Association With Community Circulation of Scarlet Fever and Respiratory Viral Infections.

Epidemiology of Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infection in Children and its Association With Community Circulation of Scarlet Fever and Respiratory Viral Infections.

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