Principles and Practice of Clinical Bacteriology
Chapter One
ß-Haemolytic Streptococci
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Streptococcal diseases such as scarlet fever, erysipelas and puerperal
fever were recognised as major problems for centuries before
characterisation of the causative organisms. The first attempts to
differentiate streptococci were probably made by Schottmüller in 1903,
who used haemolysis to distinguish them. The ß-haemolytic streptococci,
characterised by the production of clear zones of haemolysis around
colonies following overnight incubation on blood agar, turned out to
contain some of the most ubiquitous bacterial colonisers of humans.
Although there are now numerous additional approaches for differentiating
streptococci, both haemolytic activity and another early approach,
Lancefield typing (based on group-specific carbohydrate antigens),
remain useful for differentiating them in the modern clinical microbiology
laboratory. Table 1.1 lists the major ß-haemolytic streptococci currently
recognised. Interestingly, the accumulation of molecular data in ... read full excerpt from Principles and Practice of Clinical Bacteriology, 2nd Edition ebook
