“How to recognize it” –

There is concern regarding streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) which from January to March 10 saw 474 cases recorded in Japan alone with a mortality rate of up to 30 percent. A very aggressive infection that also causes tissue necrosis, which is why it has been defined as a flesh-eating bacterium.

Behind this emergency is the M1Uk variant of Streptococcus pyogenes. The director of Microbiology and Virology at the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, Claudio Farina, explains to Tgr Leonardo how to recognize it. It is a “human microbe that colonizes the upper respiratory tract and the skin”, explains the expert. It can cause sore throats, colds, tonsillitis in children, and many people have it without knowing it because they don’t get sick. With some variants you can have “scarlet fever and necrotizing fasciitis, necrosis of the soft tissues” which has earned this variant the nickname of meat-eater.

But what are the most dangerous strains? There are many of them and in various countries, says Farina, and the M1 “is the most frequent”. How can you tell if you have this type of bacteria? The professor explains that he gives us two types of swab, one faster and another that allows the evaluation of antibiotics suitable for eradicating streptococci. How is it infected and how can it be prevented? “It is transmitted starting from respiratory highs” with droplets, the droplets that have become famous in the Covid pandemic, “or from skin lesions through contact”, explains Farina, according to whom the main form of prevention is hand hygiene.