Balanitis categorized as a sexually transmitted infection is caused by the inflammation of the glans penis. Although one of the causative pathogens of balanitis is Streptococcus pyogenes, the relationship between bacterial markers in Streptococcus pyogenes and clinical symptoms has not been elucidated yet. This study analyzed the correlation between emmtype and clinical symptoms of balanitis. Thirty-two samples of Streptococcus pyogenes were collected from balanitis patients in 2 medical institutes from 2009 to 2011. The emmtype sequencing analysis was performed on the 32 strains and compared them to clinical symptoms. From balanitis patients, emm11, emm75, and emm112 strains were the frequently isolated. Among the patients, 88% were in the age groups of 20 and 40 years. In ~66% of patients, the symptoms appeared between 4 and 14 days. With regard to the relationship between emm type and swelling of the penis, emm11 strain showed higher penile swelling compared to the other emm type strains (p = 0.0354). All emm58 strains caused itching. Only 3 (emm58, emm 73, and emm 75) emm type strains caused purulent discharge from the penis. This suggests that specific emm types Streptococcus pyogenes are associated with balanitis.

Keyword:balanitis, emm type, Streptococcus pyogenes

• Full Text: PDF(248.71KB)
• Full Text: HTML