Co-infection of influenza B and Streptococcus.

To the Editor—The recent report on ‘co-infection of influenza B and Streptococcus’ by Lam et al1 is very interesting. They reported “four cases infected with influenza B and streptococci that gave rise to severe pneumonia” and mentioned that “this is the second case report of severe invasive pneumococcal pneumonia secondary to influenza B infection.”1 Indeed, both influenza B and Streptococcus infections are important infectious diseases that are encountered worldwide. In fact, there are more than two previous publications reporting the concurrent infection of influenza B and Streptococcus.2,3 In the report by Aebi et al,2 three cases were document and additional four cases were presented in the report by Scaber et al.3 Hence, the claim by Lam et al1 should not be correct. Nevertheless, in all reports, the clinical features of the pneumonia were serious and sometimes fatal. As Lam et al1 suggested, physicians should increase awareness of possible concurrent infection in the present era of emerging influenza.