CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF (GROUP A) STREPTOCOCCAL INFECTION IN MILITARY COLLECTIVE BODIES
The clinical and epidemiological features of diseases caused by group A streptococci (GAS) were studied in military collective bodies. It was shown that there was an association of the clinical manifestations of streptococcal infection with seasonal factors. GAS-induced infection was ascertained to be mainly notified as skin diseases in summer and as upper (acute tonsillitis and acute respiratory infections) and lower (bronchitis and community-acquired pneumonias) respiratory tract diseases. The training center (Elan) was used as an example to prove the important role of GAS in the etiology of community-acquired pneumonias, including those as a microbial and viral association chiefly with adenovirus infection. A large-scale, previously not described in world practice, food-borne streptococcal tonsillitis outbreak in the large training center (Dmitrov) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is characterized. Rationale is provided for current necessary antiepidemic measures against GAS-induced infections.