It's Strep Throat Season

Strep throat is one of a several conditions, among them pneumonia, scarlet fever, impetigo, and flesh-eating necrotizing fasciitis, caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes, better known as group A Streptococcus (GAS). Each year, some 600 million people worldwide contract strep throat, many of them children. GAS infections can cause over 500,000 deaths per year. GAS infections can occur any time during the year; however, infections may increase seasonally depending on global geography. Infections occur in the throat or on the skin and vary from very mild conditions to severe, life threatening diseases. Infections of GAS may spread through direct contact with mucus or sores on the skin.

GAS infections can cause over 500,000 deaths per year. Despite the emergence of antibiotics, infections of GAS is an increasing problem, particularly on the continent of Africa. Hardy Diagnostics has made the identification of GAS easy with the release of HardyCHROM™ Group A Strep Agar, the easy-to-read, chromogenic media recommended for the selective cultivation and differential isolation of S. pyogenes from specimens based on colony color. HardyCHROM™ Group A Strep Agar can identify Group A Streptococcus by colony color in just 24 hours. When S. pyogenes is present, it will display red to red-orange colonies on a bright white background. Non-GAS isolates should appear as blue, clear, or white colonies. Easily confirm colonies in just a few steps, in just one minute and with no incubation needed, with this easy-to-use latex agglutination test, StrepPRO™Streptococcal Group Kit for Streptococcus Lancefield grouping.