What is the basis for increased SpeA toxin expression and differences between S. pyogenes strains
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Infectious Disease
Abstract
There has been a marked resurgence of scarlet fever in England, with ten-fold increases in notifications since 2014, peaking at 19,000 notifications in 2016 (1, 2). We hypothesise that children with streptococcal sore throats and in particular scarlet fever provide an important reservoir for invasive infections. Genomic investigation of strains has confirmed that the strains causing throat infections and invasive infections are intermingled and has also demonstrated the emergence of a rogue lineage of Streptococcus pyogenes in 2016 among invasive cases and scarlet fever cases.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Shiranee Sriskandan (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Ho Kwong Li (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MR/R502376/1 | 03/09/2017 | 01/01/2025 | |||
| 2367435 | Studentship | MR/R502376/1 | 01/08/2018 | 31/07/2021 | Ho Kwong Li |
| Description | Collaboration with Public Health England in joint study entitles: "Emergence of dominant toxigenic M1T1 Streptococcus pyogenes clone during increased scarlet fever activity in England: a population-based molecular epidemiological study" |
| Organisation | Public Health England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Collaboration with Public Health England in obtaining epidemiological data on recent upsurge of notifiable cases of scarlet fever and invasive group A streptococcal infection in England since 2013. Our institution have contributed clinical samples, pathogen genomes and genomic analysis to the project as well as the experimental data to confirm that the recent upsurge of scarlet fever are as a result of 27 single nucleotide polymorphisms and one effect observed in the new lineage M1T1 is that of increased scarlet fever toxin production. There has been a longstanding collaboration between Imperial College and PHE but my direct collaboration commenced in 2018 and is ongoing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Public Health England have kindly provided epidemiological data on recent upsurge of scarlet fever and invasive group A streptococcal infection as well as additional clinical samples for testing and pathogen genomes that they have collected. Further analyses are due to be done including the wider effects of this new M1UK lineage of Streptococcus pyogenes with increased toxin production on whether there is associated increased severity of invasive disease, longer length of inpatient admissions and potentially mortality. The clinical data would be kindly provided by Public Health England. |
| Impact | Publication in Lancet Infectious Diseases in Nov 2019: Lynskey NN, Jauneikaite E, Li HK, Zhi X, Turner CE, Mosavie M, Pearson M, Asai M, Lobkowicz L, Chow JY, Parkhill J, Lamagni T, Chalker VJ, Sriskandan S. Emergence of dominant toxigenic M1T1 Streptococcus pyogenes clone during increased scarlet fever activity in England: a population-based molecular epidemiological study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019 Nov;19(11):1209-1218. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30446-3. Epub 2019 Sep 10. PubMed PMID: 31519541; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6838661. |
| Start Year | 2018 |