Betahemolytic streptococci in healthy schoolchildren from Francisco Linares Alcantara municipality, Aragua state, Venezuela

Betahemolytic streptococci (BHS) group A, C and G are causing pharyngitis in humans, but occasionally, they can colonize the pharynx of people without causing symptoms. There are factors that determine the carrier status, and its control is important to prevent the spread of the infection. Therefore, it was proposed to detect asymptomatic carriers of BHS in healthy schoolchildren from 6 to 9 years old in the municipality of Francisco Linares Alcantara (FLA) by bacteriological methods, as well as to determine the antistreptolysin O (ASTO) antibody title by indirect (passive) agglutination. The 21.47% of the appendixes were asymptomatic carriers of BHS, with BHS group C being the most frequent, which shares antigenic characteristics with group A. The factors associated with the carrier state were the origin of public school and the use of pacifier. When obtaining the titles of ASTO, it was obtained that 97.8% of the students had titles equal to or less than 400UI/mL, so this could be considered the reference value for the population under study. The reference values of commercial kits, are data usually obtained in other countries that may not be applied to the Venezuelan population, which could affect the treatment of patients and trigger important sequelae. Investigations of this type are important since they allow to characterize epidemiologically, the presence of BHS in the population, allowing to find possible foci and create policies of control and decolonization measures that decrease the reservoir of pathogenic bacteria.