{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,2]],"date-time":"2026-11-02T22:32:08Z","timestamp":1793658728777,"version":"4.5.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,23]],"date-time":"2024-12-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1734912000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["cambridge.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Epidemiol. Infect."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n\t  <jats:p>Group A streptococcal or <jats:italic>Streptococcus pyogenes<\/jats:italic> infections have been increasing post-COVID-19 pandemic. We describe the epidemiology of <jats:italic>S. pyogenes<\/jats:italic> pharyngitis and invasive disease in Alberta, Canada 2018\u20132023. Positive pharyngitis specimens were identified from throat swabs collected from pharyngitis patients. Invasive <jats:italic>S. pyogenes<\/jats:italic> was defined as the isolation of <jats:italic>S. pyogenes<\/jats:italic> from a normally sterile site or severe skin infection. <jats:italic>S. pyogenes<\/jats:italic> isolates were <jats:italic>emm<\/jats:italic> typed. Pharyngitis and invasive disease displayed seasonal trends preceding the COVID-19 pandemic followed by a sharp decrease during COVID-19 intervention measures. After the lifting of interventions, rates of pharyngitis and invasive disease rose. There were 182\u00a0983 positive pharyngitis specimens between 2018 and 2023 for a positivity rate of 17.6%. The highest rates occurred in the 0\u20139 age group in 2023 (41.5%). Invasive disease increased in 2022\u20132023 driven by <jats:italic>emm<\/jats:italic>1 and 12 types. M1<jats:sub>UK<\/jats:sub> strain was the most frequent M1 type associated with invasive disease (59% of M1 isolates sequenced). Notably, out of 182\u00a0983 pharyngitis cases, there were 111 cases of invasive <jats:italic>S. pyogenes<\/jats:italic> detected for an invasive disease rate of 0.06%. This descriptive epidemiology of <jats:italic>S. pyogenes<\/jats:italic> pharyngitis and invasive <jats:italic>S. pyogenes<\/jats:italic> disease highlights the rapid increase in cases of <jats:italic>S. pyogenes<\/jats:italic> occurring in western Canada and illustrates the critical need for a vaccine.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1017\/s0950268824001857","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,23]],"date-time":"2024-12-23T06:33:52Z","timestamp":1734935632000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/policypage","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Group A streptococcal infections in Alberta, Canada 2018\u20132023"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"153","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5276-2416","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gregory J.","family":"Tyrrell","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthew","family":"Croxen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emily","family":"McCullough","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vincent","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alyssa R.","family":"Golden","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irene","family":"Martin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,23]]},"container-title":["Epidemiology and Infection"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S0950268824001857","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,28]],"date-time":"2025-02-28T06:50:02Z","timestamp":1740725402000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S0950268824001857\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,23]]},"references-count":0,"alternative-id":["S0950268824001857"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/s0950268824001857","relation":{},"ISSN":["0950-2688","1469-4409"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0950-2688","type":"print"},{"value":"1469-4409","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,23]]},"assertion":[{"value":"\u00a9 The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press","name":"copyright","label":"Copyright","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.","name":"license","label":"License","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This content has been made available to all.","name":"free","label":"Free to read"}],"article-number":"e35"}}