@unpublished{pittir21529,
           month = {April},
           title = {Erythromycin resistant group A streptococcal infections in Latin America and the United States},
          school = {University of Pittsburgh},
          author = {Catrina Rico},
       publisher = {University of Pittsburgh},
            year = {2014},
             url = {http://d-scholarship-dev.library.pitt.edu/21529/},
        abstract = {Antibiotic resistance among human pathogens is an emerging area of concern in the field of public health. Group A streptococcus (GAS) is commonly overlooked in the surveillance and research of antibiotic resistance. However, infections with GAS cause substantial morbidity and mortality each year worldwide. For optimal clinical outcomes, new Latin American immigrants to the U.S. who are diagnosed with GAS infection may require differential treatment depending upon the prevalence and pattern of antibiotic nonsusceptibility in their area of origin as compared to the prevalence and patterns in the U.S. There are no published studies to date that examine resistance patterns of GAS among Latin American immigrants in the U.S. A first step towards creating a foundation from which to develop antibiotic treatment guidelines for Latin American immigrants would include examination of the current literature on GAS resistance patterns in Latin America and the U.S. The goal of this literature review is to explore the body of evidence surrounding the rates of erythromycin resistant (ER) GAS within both regions and make recommendations for future studies and public health practices. Studies for the review were found through a search of the PubMed and the Literatura Latino Americana e do Caribe em Ci{\^e}ncias da Sa{\'u}de (LILACS) databases. Forty articles met the criteria for inclusion: 20 with data from Latin America, 19 with data from the U.S., and one article with data from both regions. Isolates from six Latin American countries and the U.S. were collected over two decades, from 1990 to 2010. Prevalence rates of ER-GAS fluctuated by geographical location and over time. Substantial gaps in the literature were discovered. The public health significance of this review is to demonstrate the major challenges to constructing evidence-based GAS antibiotic treatment guidelines for Latin American immigrants to the U.S. based upon published articles without strengthening surveillance data from other sources.}
}