According to Nizet and Arnold, GAS (Group A streptococcus) is has the scientific name of Streptococcus pyogenes, the only species that exists in the beta-hemolytics group of streptococci (698). Streptococcus is a gram-positive bacterium that develops in the form of chains, predominantly in the fluid environment. In the relation to the history of the bacterium, it was first mentioned by Hippocrates who mentioned similar symptoms caused by the bacteria. In 1974, Billroth also mentioned similar symptoms in patients infected by erysipelas. In 1883 Fehleisen isolated the bacteria that were forming chains, and Rosenbach first used the name S. pyogenes in 1884. In the 1930s Lancefield was responsible for conducting further studies on the hemolytic structure of Streptococcus, which Brown and Schottmueller then divided into serotypes (Leyro 1).
Group A streptococcus usually causes acute pharyngitis (“strep throat”) and pyoderma in adolescents as well as children. Furthermore, the bacterium also causes a variety of other infections that affect the respiratory tract, like, for example, sinusitis, peritonsillar abscess, mastoiditis, and others (Nizet and Armold 700). The symptoms of the most common illness caused by the bacteria, strep throat, include the following: high fever, headache and rash, pain while swallowing, throat pain, red spots on the palate, as well as swollen tonsils.
The treatment of symptoms caused by the invasive Group A streptococcus infections usually involves the hemodynamic stabilizations as well as therapy targeted at the elimination of microbes. Furthermore, to treat the illness, parenteral antimicrobial therapy can be applied until the availability of the results of bacteriologic studies. In cases when bacteria is identified, the prevalent medication of choice is penicillin G, administered in doses of two hundred thousand to four hundred thousand U per kilogram a day. Clindamycin is an antibiotic which is able for inhibiting the synthesis of protein as well as the production of crucial factors of virulence, for example, SPEs or M protein. Thus, many professionals recommend the administration of clindamycin from twenty-five to forty milligrams per kilogram per day as an addition to the administered penicillin, since less than two percent of Group A streptococci can resist the effect caused by clindamycin (Nizet and Armold 702).
The prevention of illnesses caused by Streptococcus pyogenes is linked to vaccine development targeted at diversifying the M proteins. In addition, innovative approaches are used in order to explore the possibility of genetically engineered surface proteins (Nizet and Arnold 707).
Despite the fact that Streptococcus pyogenes is a bacterium that can naturally transform and form chains, there is a small number of identified indigenous cryptic plasmids. Furthermore, the majority of plasmid vectors to manipulate the bacterium stand apart from the heterologous hosts. However, according to Domingues, Cunha Aires, Mohedano, Lopez, and Arraiano, there have recently been advances in plasmid construction that allows the use the gfp-fusions vectors through the use of GFP or Green Fluorescent Protein that plays the roles as the gene expression reported (3). There has also been evidence of the newly developed vector in order to regulate the expression of genes through the use of a similar system.
Works Cited
Domingues, Susana, Andreia Cinha Aires, Mari Luz Mohedano, Paloma Lopez, and Cecilia M. Arraiano. A New Tool for Cloning and Gene Expression in Streptococcus Pneumoniae. n.d. PDF file. 2016.
Leyro, Jasmine. History of Streptococcus Pyogenes. 28 Jul. 2008. PDF file. 2016. Web.
Nizet, Victor, and John C. Arnold. Streptococcus Pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus). n.d. PDF file. 2016.