Skin infections among Indigenous Australians in an urban setting in Far North Queensland
- 24 October 2007
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Epidemiology and Infection
- Vol. 136 (8), 1103-1108
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0950268807009740
Abstract
Skin infections are highly prevalent in many Australian Aboriginal communities. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of group A streptococcus (GAS) andStaphylococcus aureusin skin sores of Indigenous people living in an urban setting. We undertook a cross-sectional study of 173 children and youths attending the Wuchopperen Clinic (Cairns) for treatment of skin infections. Participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire, and a skin lesion swab obtained. The median age was 5·3 years, with 42% identifying themselves as Torres Strait Islanders and 34% as Aboriginal. Impetigo (65%) was the most frequent diagnosis reported followed by scabies (19%); 79% of the lesions had erythema and 70% had exudate. Of 118 lesions, 114 were positive for pathogenic bacteria, with GAS isolated in 84 cases andS. aureusin 92; both these species were recovered from 63 lesions. Significant diversity ofemm-types of GAS was associated with skin lesions in Indigenous patients (22emm-types identified). Fifteen of the 92S. aureusisolates were suggestive of being community-acquired on the basis of antimicrobial susceptibility profile and nine of these strains were co-cultured from nine lesions. These results have implications for future changes of antibiotic policies for the treatment of skin infections in this population.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- The dynamic nature of group A streptococcal epidemiology in tropical communities with high rates of rheumatic heart diseaseEpidemiology and Infection, 2007
- Molecular typing ofStreptococcus pyogenesfrom remote Aboriginal communities where rheumatic fever is common and pyoderma is the predominant streptococcal infectionEpidemiology and Infection, 2007
- Use of a Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism Genotyping System To Demonstrate the Unique Epidemiology of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Remote Aboriginal CommunitiesJournal of Clinical Microbiology, 2006
- Low Rates of Streptococcal Pharyngitis and High Rates of Pyoderma in Australian Aboriginal Communities Where Acute Rheumatic Fever Is HyperendemicClinical Infectious Diseases, 2006
- Epidemiology, clinical features and management of infections due to community methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (cMRSA)Internal Medicine Journal, 2005
- Nutrition status of primary school children in TownsvilleAustralian Journal of Rural Health, 2005
- M Protein Gene ( emm Type) Analysis of Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococci from Ethiopia Reveals Unique PatternsJournal of Clinical Microbiology, 2005
- Group A Streptococci from a Remote Community Have Novel Multilocus Genotypes but ShareemmTypes and Housekeeping Alleles with Isolates from Worldwide SourcesThe Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2004
- Pathogenesis of Group A Streptococcal InfectionsClinical Microbiology Reviews, 2000
- emmTyping and Validation of Provisional M Types for Group A Streptococci1Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999