Genomic Characterization of Skin and Soft Tissue Streptococcus pyogenes Isolates from a Low-Income and a High-Income Setting
Saikou Y. Bah, Alexander J. Keeley, Edwin P. Armitage, Henna Khalid, Roy R. Chaudhuri, Elina Senghore, Jarra Manneh, Lisa Tilley, Michael Marks, Saffiatou Darboe, Abdul Karim Sesay, Thushan I. de Silva, Claire E. Turner, Annette Erhart, Pierre R. Smeesters, Martín Antonio, Sona Jabang, Beate Kampmann, Anna Roca, Isatou Jagne Cox, Peggy-Estelle Tiencheu, Grant Mackenzie
Abstract
The global burden of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) has triggered a World Health Organization response to drive forward development of a vaccine against the causative human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes. This burden stems primarily from low- and middle-income settings where there are high levels of S. pyogenes skin and soft tissue infections, which can lead to RHD. Our study provides much needed whole-genome-based molecular characterization of isolates causing skin infections in Sukuta, The Gambia, a low-income country (LIC) in West Africa where infection and RHD rates are high. Although we identified a greater level of diversity in these LIC isolates than in isolates from Sheffield, United Kingdom (a high-income country), there were some shared features. There were also some features that differed by geographical region, warranting further investigation into their contribution to infection. Our study has also contributed data essential for the development of a vaccine that would target geographically relevant strains.