View clinical trials related to Streptococcal Infection.
Filter by:Antibody deficiencies and complement deficiencies are the most frequent Primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) in adults, and are associated with greatly increased susceptibility to recurrent and/or severe bacterial infections - especially upper and lower respiratory tract infections and meningitis. The literature data suggest that PIDs are under-diagnosed in adults. The current European and US guidelines advocate screening adults for PIDs if they present recurrent benign especially upper and lower respiratory tract infections, or if they have experienced at least two severe bacterial infections and/or have a recurrent need for intravenous antibiotics. The objective of the demonstrate the interest of PIDs screening in adult patients who present such recurrent infections and/or after the first severe bacterial infection, especially when the patients do not present with known, etiologically relevant comorbidities.
IGHN2 is an international, multicenter, double blind, randomized controlled trial aimed at assessing the efficacy on organ dysfunctions of Intravenous Immunoglobulins (IVIG) treatment in the acute phase of streptococcal or staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome in children.
The study investigated the immune response induced by the Group B streptococcus vaccine in healthy pregnant women. In addition, the study investigated the amount of vaccine induced antibodies which were transferred to the newborn.
This is a study to to compare traditional fibre wound swabs to more recently developed flocked swabs for the identification of Group A streptococcal pharyngitis in children presenting to a children's emergency department.
Bacteria carry substances on their surface called antigens. When antigens come into contact with the right kinds of cells in the body an immune reaction is caused. This reaction is often the symptoms of sickness that a patient feels. In order for the body to fight off the attack of antigens, it creates substances called antibodies. Antibodies counter the action of antigens and make the bacteria harmless. However, the immune system must learn how to make the right antibodies for the right antigens. Sometimes the body creates antibodies that confuse normal tissues as foreign and attack them. This is called an autoimmune reaction and sometimes occurs when the body is exposed to certain bacteria. One bacteria known for causing autoimmune reactions is Group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus (GABHS). This bacteria often causes throat infections commonly known as "strep throat". Some researchers believe that the autoimmune reaction associated with strep throat infections may cause neuropsychiatric disorders, like obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or tic disorder in children. As a result, each time a child with one of these disorders experiences an infection with GABHS his/her symptoms can reoccur or worsen. Researchers believe that by giving patients a certain antibiotic, they can prevent GABHS infection and thus prevent the return of symptoms. This study is designed to test the effectiveness of the antibiotic Amoxicillin for the treatment of Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections (PANDAS). Patients will receive Amoxicillin for six weeks and placebos "inactive sugar pills" for six weeks in order to see if the medication is truly working. Effectiveness of the treatment will be based on the presence or absence of symptoms. If at the end of the study Amoxicillin is proven to be effective treatment for PANDAS patients may be offered the opportunity to continue taking the medication for an additional six months.
A subgroup of patients with childhood-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or tic disorders has been identified who share a common clinical course characterized by dramatic onset and symptom exacerbations following group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infections. This subgroup is designated by the acronym PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections). There are five clinical characteristics that define the PANDAS subgroup: presence of OCD and/or tic disorder; prepubertal symptom onset; sudden onset or abrupt exacerbations (relapsing-remitting course); association with neurological abnormalities (presence of adventitious movements or motoric hyperactivity during exacerbations); and temporal association between symptom exacerbations and GABHS infections. In this subgroup, periodic exacerbations appear to be triggered by GABHS infections in a manner similar to that of Sydenham's chorea, the neurological variant of rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever is a disorder with a presumed post-streptococcal autoimmune etiology. The streptococcal pathogenesis of rheumatic fever is supported by studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness of penicillin prophylaxis in preventing recurrences of this illness. A trial of penicillin prophylaxis in the PANDAS subgroup demonstrated that penicillin was not superior to placebo as prophylaxis against GABHS infections in these children, but this outcome was felt to be secondary to non-compliance with treatment, and there was no decrease in the number of neuropsychiatric symptom exacerbations in this group. In a study comparing azithromycin and penicillin, both drugs were completely effective in preventing streptococcal infections - there were no documented titer elevations during the year-long study period for children taking either penicillin or azithromycin. Comparable reductions in the severity of tics and obsessive-compulsive symptoms were also observed. Thus, penicillin was not performing as an "active placebo" as originally postulated, but rather provided effective prophylaxis against Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal. Both azithromycin and penicillin appear to be effective in eliminating GABHS infections, and reducing neuropsychiatric symptom severity; thus, between-group differences are negligible. Since increasing the "n" to demonstrate superiority of one prophylactic agent over another would be impractical, we have amended the study design to address two issues: 1. To determine if antibiotics prophylaxis against GABHS infections is superior to placebo in prolonging periods of remission among children in the PANDAS subgroup. 2. To determine if antibiotics prophylaxis against GABHS infections is superior to placebo in improving overall symptom severity for obsessive-compulsive symptoms and tics among children in the PANDAS subgroup. Because penicillin has a narrower therapeutic index and is less expensive than azithromycin, it is the preferable prophylactic agent. Further, penicillin (250 mg orally twice a day) has a long history of providing safe and effective prophylaxis for rheumatic fever and is the first line oral therapy recommended by the American Heart Association. Thus, penicillin has been chosen as the prophylactic antibiotic in the present study. Blister packs are used to increase compliance and to allow for easier documentation of missed doses.