
The establishment of the field of medical microbiology and its vital role in infectious diseases paved the way to better understand the wide varieties of pneumococcal disease.
As far back as the late 1800s, chain-forming organisms from St. Anthony’s fire — or erysipelas — in humans were being recovered. The classification of the numerous types of streptococcal species and infections is complex. Patterns of hemolysis of blood agar and serotyping of certain proteins have been described. For this article, we will review a beta-hemolytic, group A streptococcal organism,