Ongoing emergence of M1UK lineage among invasive group A streptococcus isolates in England, 2020 and use of allele-specific PCRâ€

Amid increasing reports of invasive Streptococcus pyogenes infections, wider surveillance for toxigenic lineage M1UK is required. An allele-specific PCR was developed to distinguish M1UK from other emm1 strains. This demonstrated the M1UK lineage to be dominant among emm1 isolates in England, representing 91% of invasive emm1 isolates by end 2020.

随着侵袭性化脓性链球菌（Streptococcus pyogenes）感染报告数量持续攀升，针对产毒谱系M1UK的大范围监测工作亟需加强。本研究开发了一种等位基因特异性PCR（allele-specific PCR）方法，可用于区分M1UK与其他emm1型菌株。实验结果证实，M1UK谱系在英格兰的emm1分离株中占据主导地位，截至2020年底，其在侵袭性emm1分离株中的占比高达91%。