PEDIATRICS Vol. 48 No. 4 October 1971, pp. 566-572
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AN EFFECTIVE PROGRAM FOR REDUCING GROUP A STREPTOCOCCAL PREVALENCE

Robert A. Zimmerman Ph.D.1, Betty A. Biggs R.N.1, Richard A. Bolin 1, Elizabeth Wilson Ph.D.1, James H. Mathews BA1, C. Bruce Cropp BS1, and Arthur H. Auernheimer BA1

1 Streptococcal Disease Section, Ecological Investigations Program, Center for Disease Control, Health Services and Mental Health Administration, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Sangre De Cristo School District, Mosca, Colorado

A relatively simple and inexpensive streptococcal control program was applied to two school populations located in an area of high endemicity in Colorado. Throat cultures were obtained from children admitting sore throat and from a small, continuously rotating random sample of the student body. This method of surveillance provided a reliable index of total streptococcal incidence in the two schools. Children with Group A positive cultures sought consultation with private physicians on a voluntary basis. The application of these sampling procedures resulted in a reduction of prevalence rates to less than 5%. Comparable endemic prevalence rates observed in school children in three other Colorado communities averaged 21.9%.

The program described is practical and effective in substantially lowering the incidence of Group A infections and reducing risk to development of nonsuppurative sequelae.

Submitted on August 31, 1970
Accepted on April 12, 1971