Streptococcus A — or Group A Strep (GAS) — is a bacterial infection of the throat or skin, which usually arises throughout the winter months.
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Health officials within the U.K. are warning parents to be alert after a recent spate of severe Strep A infections resulted within the deaths of no less than six children.
The U.K.’s Health Security Agency issued a rare health warning Friday urging parents to watch their children for tell-tale symptoms of the illness, which might include a sore throat, headache, fever, and body rashes.
No less than six children have died of severe cases of the infection since September, health agencies said, while reported cases have risen over 4.5 times the quantity seen in recent times.
What’s Strep A?
Streptococcus A — or Group A Strep (GAS) — is a bacterial infection of the throat or skin which usually arises throughout the winter months.
While most cases are mild and sometimes go unnoticed, it may well also result in more serious illness and complications, comparable to scarlet fever.
Scarlet fever is a highly contagious bacterial infection that mostly affects young children. It typically causes flu-like symptoms and a high quality, sandpaper-like rash, which might normally be treated with antibiotics.
Nevertheless, in rare occasions, the bacteria can get into the bloodstream and cause an illness called invasive Group A strep (iGAS).
These severe infections will be deadly, and are considered the reason for the recent spate of deaths.
Make sure that you discuss with a health skilled in case your child is showing signs of deteriorating after a bout of scarlet fever.
Dr Colin Brown
deputy director, UKHSA
Health officials have subsequently urged parents to be vigilant for warning signs of the invasive illness, including a temperature above 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
“It’s important that folks are looking out for symptoms and see a physician as quickly as possible in order that their child will be treated and we will stop the infection becoming serious,” Dr Colin Brown, deputy director at UKHSA, said.
“Make sure that you discuss with a health skilled in case your child is showing signs of deteriorating after a bout of scarlet fever, a sore throat, or a respiratory infection,” he added.
Cases surge post-Covid
Five of the deaths have occurred in children under the age of 10 in England, in accordance with the UKHSA. The sixth death was reported at a Welsh primary school (elementary school) by Public Health Wales.
An extra death of a 12-year-old schoolboy from London was reported Saturday, but has not yet been confirmed.
Typically, one or two children under the age of 10 die consequently of Strep A during winter within the U.K.
Within the week to November 20., there have been 851 cases of scarlet fever reported within the U.K., in comparison with a mean of 186 for the preceding years.
Health officials have said there may be currently no evidence that a latest strain is circulating. The rise is as an alternative likely related to high amounts of circulating bacteria and social mixing following the tip of Covid-19 restrictions.
“(We) need to acknowledge that the measures that we have taken for the last couple of years to scale back Covid circulating can even reduce other infections circulating,” Dr Susan Hopkins, UKHSA’s chief medical adviser, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program Monday.
“That signifies that, as things get back to normal, these traditional infections that we have seen for a few years are circulating at great levels,” she added.
The most recent outbreak follows a surge in other illnesses this 12 months, including monkeypox and a mysterious liver disease affecting children.
Some medics are concerned concerning the impact the most recent outbreak could have on the U.K.’s already struggling National Health Service.
“The final thing we wish is for A&E departments to be flooded with a latest influx of anxious parents,” Neena Modi, professor of neonatal medicine at Imperial College London, told the Guardian.
The UKHSA said concerned parents within the U.K. should contact NHS 111 or their local GP in the primary instance in the event that they notice early symptoms of their children, while more severe cases should contact 999 or visit A&E.
