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Volume 31, Number 7—July 2025
Synopsis
Human Streptococcus suis Infections, South America, 1995–2024
Table 1
Summary of human Streptococcus suis infections, South America, 1995–2024*
Patient characteristics | Argentina | Brazil | Chile | French Guiana | Uruguay | South America |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total no. cases |
29 |
5 |
7† |
1 |
5 |
47 |
Sex | ||||||
M | 25 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 38 |
F | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Not reported |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
Age, y | ||||||
Mean age, y (range)‡ | 46.6 (38–55) | 65.6 (50–82) | 49.6 (44–55) | 42 (NA) | 55 (50–66) | 48.5 (38–82) |
Median age, y‡ | 47 | 68 | 48 | NA | 52 | 50 |
Not reported |
20 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
23 |
Clinical manifestation | ||||||
Meningitis | 26 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 40 |
STSLS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Other§ | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Not known |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Outcomes | ||||||
Recovered | 27 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 43 |
Died | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Hearing loss | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
Not known |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Contact with pigs | ||||||
Worker or farmer | 18 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 28 |
Other contact¶ | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
No contact | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Not known |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
Isolates | ||||||
Serotyping | ||||||
Reported# | 26 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 35 |
Not reported | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12 |
MLST | ||||||
Reported** | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
Not reported | 4 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 21 |
*MLST, multilocus sequence type; ST, sequence type; STSLS, streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome. †Because 1 human isolate from Chile was available in PubMLST, an additional human case is possible. That isolate belonged to MLST ST1172, but it was not serotyped. Thus, whether that isolate represents an eighth human infection in Chile or if it corresponds to one of the 7 previously reported infections is not known. ‡One case occurring in a 1-y-old infant from Argentina was excluded when calculating mean, range, and median patient age. §Includes 1 case of septic arthritis and 1 case of endocarditis in Argentina and 2 cases of sepsis in Chile. ¶Includes contact while handling pigs for consumption, consuming undercooked pork, hunting wild boars, or a combination of those factors. #All cases where serotyping was performed revealed serotype 2 isolates except for 1 serotype 5 and 1 untypable isolate in Argentina. **All cases where MLST was performed revealed ST1 isolates, except for an ST5 strain that was retrospectively ascribed to ST483 in a different investigation (36).
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