A strep infections are rare events and may indicate subsequent illness that is preventable. GAS may be transmitted to patients by asymptomatic healthcare workers who are carrying the organism. When a single episode of postoperative or postpartum GAS is identified, enhanced surveillance and epidemiologic investigation, including screening of healthcare workers, may prevent additional cases. Healthcare workers identified as carriers should refrain from patient care while being treated. Occasionally, however, these bacteria can reach parts of the body where bacteria are not usually found, such as the blood, deep muscle and fat tissue, or the lungs, and can cause invasive infections.
GAS can be present in the throat or on the skin and cause no symptoms of disease.
Occasionally, however, these bacteria can reach parts of the body where bacteria are not usually found, such as the blood, deep muscle and fat tissue, or the lungs, and can cause invasive infections. GAS is spread by direct contact with secretions from the nose and throat of infected persons or by contact with infected wounds or sores on the skin. Two of the most severe but least common forms of invasive GAS disease are necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome is a rapidly progressing infection causing shock and injury to internal organs such as the kidneys, liver, and lungs. CDC estimates that 500 to 1,500 cases of necrotizing fasciitis and 2,000 to 3,000 cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome occur each year in the United States.