An Outbreak of Streptococcus pyogenes in a Mental Health Facility: Advantage of Well-Timed Whole-Genome Sequencing Over emm Typing.

OBJECTIVEWe report the utility of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) conducted in a clinically relevant time frame (ie, sufficient for guiding management decision), in managing a Streptococcus pyogenes outbreak, and present a comparison of its performance with emm typing.SETTINGA 2,000-bed tertiary-care psychiatric hospital.METHODSActive surveillance was conducted to identify new cases of S.