Streptococcus suis infection: a prospective study in northern Thailand.

A prospective study of all cases of Streptococcus suis blood or CSF culture positive admitted to Lamphun Provincial Hospital in northern Thailand was carried out. Fifty-three cases of S. suis were identified, which comprised 70% of all viridans streptococci cases. The majority of cases (88.6%) were contracted orally and 83.0% had an underlying disease present. Five clinical syndromes were identified: acute meningitis (37.2%), septicemia (27.9%), toxic shock syndrome (TSS) (23.3%), subacute bacterial endocarditis(SBE) (9.3%) and spondylitis (2.3%). The patients with TSS had a lower mean age than those without TSS. S. suis IgG and IgM antibody levels in the TSS group were lower than those without TSS which is important when considering the clinical syndrome and severity of the infection.