Abstract
BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pyogenes is one of the major public health concerns causing human infections ranging from skin and throat infections to acute rheumatic fever and post streptococcal glomerulonephritis. Moreover, nowadays drug-resistant strains of S. pyogenes are emerging and can be transmitted through apparently healthy carriers to susceptible individuals. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and associated factors S. pyogenes among apparently healthy school children in Mekelle city primary schools, Northern Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 504 apparently healthy school children from February to May 2018. We used structured questionnaire to collect socio-demographic data. Throat specimens were collected using sterile cotton Swab and transported for culture, antimicrobial susceptibility and identification of S. pyogenes according to standard operating procedures. Data were analyzed using Stata 13 for descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. P-value <0.05 was declared statistically significance. RESULTS: The mean age of the study participants was 11.5 years of which 55 % of them were females. The overall prevalence of S. pyogenes was 8.3 %. Being female, having low monthly income, weak personal hygiene, poor hand washing habit and crowded living style were significantly associated with the occurrence of S. pyogenes. The isolates of S. pyogenes showed resistance to Penicillin (69.1 %), Amoxicillin-Clavulanic acid (62 %), Ampicillin (54.6 %), Ceftriaxone (47.6 %), Tetracycline (14.4 %), Cefoxitin (7.2 %). About 57.15 % isolates were multidrug-resistant. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that some isolates of S. pyogenes among the apparently healthy school children were resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotic agents and associated with hygienic conditions and living style. Therefore, it is recommended to practice antimicrobial susceptibility test to maintain rational antibiotic use and improve hygienic and hand washing practices to decrease the likelihood of carriage rate.