Streptococcal Pharyngitis in a Two-Month-Old Infant: A Case Report

Group A β-hemolytic Streptococcus is the most common cause of bacterial pharyngitis among 5 - 15-year-old children, but it is uncommon in children less than three years old and rarely happens in infants less than one year old.
The patient was a 62-day-old female infant who presented with fever and poor feeding since two days before admission. At the time of admission, the patient was febrile and ill. Upon examination, a rectal temperature of 38.5°C, multiple right-sided submandibular lymphadenopathies, pharyngeal erythema, and tonsillar exudates were detected. Twenty-four hours after the throat swab was collected and cultured, Streptococcus pyogenes grew on a sheep blood agar medium. The patient’s mother, who also experienced similar symptoms, had a positive throat swab culture for S. pyogenes.
Although Streptococcal pharyngitis is rare in children less than three years old and the necessity of treatment is not well clarified, in case of streptococcal infection in parents and the occurrence of similar signs and symptoms in their child, considering S. pharyngitis as a possible differential diagnosis seems rational.